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Light emitted near an optical waveguide is captured and equally split into two modes with opposite directions of propagation. By controlling the dipole spin of the emitter, it is possible to break this symmetry and select only one direction.
Fractional magnetic excitations naturally emerge in one-dimensional spin chains. The search for fractionalization in higher dimensions has focused on frustrated systems but evidence now suggests that it can occur in simple two-dimensional antiferromagnets.
2015 promises to be a year for celebrating important discoveries in physics — an apt way to mark the International Year of Light. And, after ten years in print, Nature Physics looks forward to its own anniversary.
Transferring electrons from the ground state to an excited state by optical pumping usually increases the population of the upper state. But for graphene in an external magnetic field, the pumped state actually gets depleted.
In 2006, Nature Physics published a paper reporting a Stern–Gerlach effect for dark polaritons and one revealing the existence of slow-light solitons. Both of these papers have significantly advanced the field of slow-light research.
Linear resistivity across many strongly correlated materials at high temperatures has no satisfactory explanation. A universal framework of incoherent metallic transport in which quantities are bounded could be the way forward.
Topological charges form readily at defects in liquid crystals, but controlling them is a formidable task. An innovative approach pins defects to a microfibre, enabling controlled creation and manipulation of topological charges.
Chern numbers characterize the quantum Hall effect conductance—non-zero values are associated with topological phases. Previously only spotted in electronic systems, they have now been measured in ultracold atoms subject to artificial gauge fields.
The mechanism holding Cooper pairs together in iron-based superconductors is highly debated. Finding the fingerprint of the pairing mechanism would be a leap forward.
The Jarzynski equality, relating non-equilibrium processes to free-energy differences between equilibrium states, has been verified in a number of classical systems. An ion-trap experiment now succeeds in demonstrating its quantum counterpart.
Graphene is a candidate spintronics material, but its weak intrinsic spin–orbit coupling is problematic. Intercalating graphene on an iridium substrate with islands of lead is now shown to induce a strong, spatially varying spin–orbit coupling.
