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Scientific flaws in a film can distract the most avid filmgoer and lend fodder to countless blog posts. But how do filmmakers actually check their facts — and how much should we really care?
Dissociating hydrogen gas seems like it should be as easy as pulling apart two identical atoms. But resonant electron-impact experiments reveal that quantum interference induces a fundamental asymmetry in the process.
The topological valley Hall effect was predicted as a consequence of the bulk topology of electronic systems. Now it has been observed in photonic crystals, showing that both topology and valley are innate to classical as well as quantum systems.
Cold collisions between hydrogen molecules and helium atoms reveal how the change from spherical to non-spherical symmetry creates a quantum scattering resonance.
Device-independent quantum cryptography promises unprecedented security, but it is regarded as a theorist's dream and an experimentalist's nightmare. A new mathematical tool has now pushed its experimental demonstration much closer to reality.
Electrons are diffracted by a standing light wave of light, a phenomenon known as the Kapitza–Dirac effect. A generalization of this effect opens perspectives for the manipulation of ultrashort electron wavepackets by intense laser fields.
The intensity correlations in incoherently scattered X-rays from a free-electron laser can be exploited to image 2D objects with a resolution close to or below the diffraction limit.
A study of the strong coupling of different exciton species in two-dimensional molybdenum diselenide in a cavity uncovers the rich many-body physics and may lead to new devices.
A scanning tunnelling microscopy study of an intercalated iron selenide-based superconductor reveals a sign change in its superconducting gap function, providing indirect evidence for the origin of the pairing mechanism in this system.
A photonic crystal can realize an analogue of a valley Hall insulator, promising more flexibility than in condensed-matter systems to explore these exotic topological states.
In nanoscale electronic circuits, controlling the flow of heat is essential. A demonstration of a heat Coulomb blockade arising from thermal many-body effects shows that thermal transport follows distinct rules in the quantum regime.
Resonant electron attachment and subsequent dissociation of diatomic molecules is shown to exhibit spatial asymmetry as a consequence of coherent excitation and subsequent interference between reaction pathways.
Fundamental fingerprints of topological orders may be characterized uniquely and purely by experimental means. Here the authors provide a proof of principle demonstration using interferometric measurement in a two-dimensional lattice system.
The simplest lattice model that allows the investigation of superconductivity with attractive interactions is realized using ultracold quantum gas. The experimental observation provides a lower bound on the strength of s-wave pairing correlations.
A significant enhancement in the effective mass of Dirac-like quasiparticles residing near a nodal loop in the electronic band structure provides evidence for strong correlation effects in a topological semimetal.
A tracing of the phase-ordering kinetics of a charge density wave system demonstrates the potential of ultrafast low-energy electron diffraction for studying phase transitions and ordering phenomena at surfaces and in low-dimensional systems.
A liquid droplet is shown to slide across a solid surface subject to friction forces analogous with those between two solids. The phenomenon is generic, and closes a gap in our understanding of liquid–solid friction.
