Table of contents
ARTICLE NAVIGATION - ISSUE
March 2008, Volume 4 No 3 pp157-256
About the coverFocus
Quantum phase transitions
- Focus issue:
- March 2008 Volume 4 No 3 pp167-204
Phase transitions are familiar occurrences, such as the freezing of water to ice. When the transition occurs at zero temperature, it is known as a 'quantum phase transition'. As distinct states of matter coexist at a transition, there are quantum fluctuations between them. This Focus explores the resulting – and often surprising – collective behaviour.
Editorial
Focus: Quantum phase transitions
Transitions in focus - p157
doi:10.1038/nphys898
Full Text - Transitions in focus | PDF (297 KB) - Transitions in focus
Thesis
Physics is dead, long live physics! - p159
Mark Buchanan
doi:10.1038/nphys899
Full Text - Physics is dead, long live physics! | PDF (250 KB) - Physics is dead, long live physics!
Research Highlights
Roll with it, take your time - p161
doi:10.1038/nphys900
Full Text - Roll with it, take your time | PDF (1,018 KB) - Roll with it, take your time
News and Views
Superconductors: The electron shatters - pp163 - 164
Nandini Trivedi
doi:10.1038/nphys901
Full Text - SuperconductorsThe electron shatters | PDF (396 KB) - SuperconductorsThe electron shatters
Subject Categories: Condensed-matter physics | Materials physics
Astrophysics: Dust before the storm - p164
May Chiao
doi:10.1038/nphys905
Full Text - AstrophysicsDust before the storm | PDF (350 KB) - AstrophysicsDust before the storm
Subject Category: Astrophysics
Scanning probe spectroscopy: Probing dopants at the atomic level - pp165 - 166
Michelle Y. Simmons
doi:10.1038/nphys902
Full Text - Scanning probe spectroscopyProbing dopants at the atomic level | PDF (1,276 KB) - Scanning probe spectroscopyProbing dopants at the atomic level
Subject Categories: Condensed-matter physics | Electronics, photonics and device physics | Nanotechnology | Techniques and instrumentation
Energy harvesting: Rubbed the right way - p166
Ed Gerstner
doi:10.1038/nphys906
Full Text - Energy harvestingRubbed the right way | PDF (579 KB) - Energy harvestingRubbed the right way
Subject Categories: Electronics, photonics and device physics | Materials physics | Nanotechnology
Perspectives
Focus: Quantum phase transitions
Fishing the Fermi sea - pp167 - 169
Paul C. Canfield
doi:10.1038/nphys908
Full Text - Fishing the Fermi sea | PDF (2,861 KB) - Fishing the Fermi sea
Focus: Quantum phase transitions
What lies beneath the dome? - pp170 - 172
D. M. Broun
doi:10.1038/nphys909
Full Text - What lies beneath the dome? | PDF (201 KB) - What lies beneath the dome?
Reviews
Focus: Quantum phase transitions
Quantum magnetism and criticality - pp173 - 185
Subir Sachdev
doi:10.1038/nphys894
Quantum magnetism describes systems of magnetic spins in which quantum mechanical effects dominate, often in surprising ways. This review article covers phase transitions between these states, including quantum criticality and entangled electron states.
Abstract - | Full Text - Quantum magnetism and criticality | PDF (802 KB) - Quantum magnetism and criticality
Subject Categories: Condensed-matter physics | Quantum physics | Statistical physics, thermodynamics and nonlinear dynamics
Focus: Quantum phase transitions
Quantum criticality in heavy-fermion metals - pp186 - 197
Philipp Gegenwart, Qimiao Si & Frank Steglich
doi:10.1038/nphys892
At a zero-temperature phase transition from one ordered state to another, fluctuations between the two states lead to quantum critical behaviour that can lead to unexpected physics. Metals with 'heavy' electrons often harbour such weird states.
Abstract - | Full Text - Quantum criticality in heavy-fermion metals | PDF (571 KB) - Quantum criticality in heavy-fermion metals
Subject Categories: Condensed-matter physics | Quantum physics | Statistical physics, thermodynamics and nonlinear dynamics
Focus: Quantum phase transitions
Bose–Einstein condensation in magnetic insulators - pp198 - 204
Thierry Giamarchi, Christian Rüegg & Oleg Tchernyshyov
doi:10.1038/nphys893
A collection of bosonic particles, such as liquid helium or ultracold gases, can condense into a ground state in which the atoms flow as a 'superfluid' without scattering. Magnetic materials further illustrate the generality of the effect, as described in this review.
Abstract - | Full Text - Bose–Einstein condensation in magnetic insulators | PDF (576 KB) - Bose–Einstein condensation in magnetic insulators
Subject Categories: Condensed-matter physics | Quantum physics | Statistical physics, thermodynamics and nonlinear dynamics | Materials physics
Letters
Quantum mechanical complementarity probed in a closed-loop Aharonov–Bohm interferometer - pp205 - 209
Dong-In Chang, Gyong Luck Khym, Kicheon Kang, Yunchul Chung, Hu-Jong Lee, Minky Seo, Moty Heiblum, Diana Mahalu & Vladimir Umansky
doi:10.1038/nphys854
First paragraph - | Full Text - Quantum mechanical complementarity probed in a closed-loop Aharonov–Bohm interferometer | PDF (4,671 KB) - Quantum mechanical complementarity probed in a closed-loop Aharonov–Bohm interferometer
Subject Categories: Quantum physics | Electronics, photonics and device physics
Accurate theoretical fits to laser-excited photoemission spectra in the normal phase of high-temperature superconductors - pp210 - 212
Philip A. Casey, J. D. Koralek, N. C. Plumb, D. S. Dessau & Philip W. Anderson
doi:10.1038/nphys833
First paragraph - | Full Text - Accurate theoretical fits to laser-excited photoemission spectra in the normal phase of high-temperature superconductors | PDF (347 KB) - Accurate theoretical fits to laser-excited photoemission spectra in the normal phase of high-temperature superconductors
Subject Categories: Condensed-matter physics | Materials physics
See also: News and Views by Trivedi
Anisotropic behaviours of massless Dirac fermions in graphene under periodic potentials - pp213 - 217
Cheol-Hwan Park, Li Yang, Young-Woo Son, Marvin L. Cohen & Steven G. Louie
doi:10.1038/nphys890
The propagation of charge carriers in graphene under an imposed periodic potential can become strongly anisotropic, suggesting a way of making electronic circuits with appropriately patterned surface electrodes without the need for cutting nanoscale structure into graphene.
First paragraph - | Full Text - Anisotropic behaviours of massless Dirac fermions in graphene under periodic potentials | PDF (515 KB) - Anisotropic behaviours of massless Dirac fermions in graphene under periodic potentials | Supplementary information
Subject Categories: Electronics, photonics and device physics | Condensed-matter physics | Nanotechnology
Stabilization of a purely dipolar quantum gas against collapse - pp218 - 222
T. Koch, T. Lahaye, J. Metz, B. Fröhlich, A. Griesmaier & T. Pfau
doi:10.1038/nphys887
For the first time, a purely dipolar quantum gas has been prepared experimentally. Different regimes have been explored; in some, the gas is stable, whereas in others it collapses due to the strong dipole–dipole interaction between the constituent atoms.
First paragraph - | Full Text - Stabilization of a purely dipolar quantum gas against collapse | PDF (572 KB) - Stabilization of a purely dipolar quantum gas against collapse
Subject Category: Atomic and molecular physics
Cruising through molecular bound-state manifolds with radiofrequency - pp223 - 226
F. Lang, P. v. d. Straten, B. Brandstätter, G. Thalhammer, K. Winkler, P. S. Julienne, R. Grimm & J. Hecker Denschlag
doi:10.1038/nphys838
First paragraph - | Full Text - Cruising through molecular bound-state manifolds with radiofrequency | PDF (351 KB) - Cruising through molecular bound-state manifolds with radiofrequency | Supplementary information
Subject Categories: Condensed-matter physics | Materials physics
Scanning-probe spectroscopy of semiconductor donor molecules - pp227 - 233
I. Kuljanishvili, C. Kayis, J. F. Harrison, C. Piermarocchi, T. A. Kaplan, S. H. Tessmer, L. N. Pfeiffer & K. W. West
doi:10.1038/nphys855
First paragraph - | Full Text - Scanning-probe spectroscopy of semiconductor donor molecules | PDF (636 KB) - Scanning-probe spectroscopy of semiconductor donor molecules | Supplementary information
Subject Categories: Condensed-matter physics | Electronics, photonics and device physics | Nanotechnology | Techniques and instrumentation
See also: News and Views by Simmons
Towards the zero-surface-tension limit in granular fingering instability - pp234 - 237
Xiang Cheng, Lei Xu, Aaron Patterson, Heinrich M. Jaeger & Sidney R. Nagel
doi:10.1038/nphys834
First paragraph - | Full Text - Towards the zero-surface-tension limit in granular fingering instability | PDF (680 KB) - Towards the zero-surface-tension limit in granular fingering instability
Subject Categories: Statistical physics, thermodynamics and nonlinear dynamics | Fluid dynamics
Articles
X-ray-scattering information obtained from near-field speckle - pp238 - 243
R. Cerbino, L. Peverini, M. A. C. Potenza, A. Robert, P. Bösecke & M. Giglio
doi:10.1038/nphys837
Abstract - | Full Text - X-ray-scattering information obtained from near-field speckle | PDF (745 KB) - X-ray-scattering information obtained from near-field speckle | Supplementary information
Subject Categories: Optical physics | Techniques and instrumentation
Coarsening of granular segregation patterns in quasi-two-dimensional tumblers - pp244 - 248
Steven W. Meier, Diego A. Melani Barreiro, Julio M. Ottino & Richard M. Lueptow
doi:10.1038/nphys881
Mixing two different types of grains in a revolving tumbler produces several radial streaks as the grains segregate. Unexpectedly though, after hundreds of revolutions, only one streak remains.
Abstract - | Full Text - Coarsening of granular segregation patterns in quasi-two-dimensional tumblers | PDF (1,390 KB) - Coarsening of granular segregation patterns in quasi-two-dimensional tumblers
Subject Categories: Fluid dynamics | Statistical physics, thermodynamics and nonlinear dynamics | Materials physics
Liquid–solid-like transition in quasi-one-dimensional driven granular media - pp249 - 254
M. G. Clerc, P. Cordero, J. Dunstan, K. Huff, N. Mujica, D. Risso & G. Varas
doi:10.1038/nphys884
Our tools for understanding phase transitions at thermal equilibrium do not usually apply to granular matter. However, a vibrating quasi-one-dimensional system displays dynamic behaviour common to classic phase transitions.
Abstract - | Full Text - Liquid–solid-like transition in quasi-one-dimensional driven granular media | PDF (951 KB) - Liquid–solid-like transition in quasi-one-dimensional driven granular media
Subject Categories: Fluid dynamics | Statistical physics, thermodynamics and nonlinear dynamics | Materials physics
