A few holes to fill - p257

doi:10.1038/nphys921

Once it seemed there were but a few holes in our understanding of physics. Today, we risk crucial gaps opening up in the funding of physics research.

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Everything is Particles - p259

Mark Buchanan

doi:10.1038/nphys922

Full Text - Everything is Particles | PDF (250 KB) - Everything is Particles

Science for the citizen - pp261 - 262

Richard Webb reviews The Canon: The Beautiful Basics of Science by Natalie Angier

doi:10.1038/nphys932

Full Text - Science for the citizen | PDF (1,361 KB) - Science for the citizen

The chatter of 100,000 voices - p262

May Chiao reviews The Listening Post exhibition by Mark Hansen

doi:10.1038/nphys970

Full Text - The chatter of 100,000 voices | PDF (824 KB) - The chatter of 100,000 voices

A bird's eye view - p263

doi:10.1038/nphys923

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Pattern formation: Watch your step - pp265 - 266

Øyvind Hammer

doi:10.1038/nphys915

Beautiful, intricate patterns in limestone result from feedback between hydrodynamics and chemistry. This self-organizing process resides in an unfamiliar region of parameter space for systems of deposition under fluid flow.

Full Text - Pattern formationWatch your step | PDF (543 KB) - Pattern formationWatch your step

Subject Categories: Statistical physics, thermodynamics and nonlinear dynamics | Other physics | Fluid dynamics

Carbon nanotubes: Old nanotubes, new tricks - pp266 - 267

Jesper Nygård

doi:10.1038/nphys924

Despite more than a decade of study, single-wall carbon nanotubes still have the ability to surprise. One recent study finds that in ultraclean nanotubes an unexpectedly strong spin–orbit coupling arises; another demonstrates their ability to support one-dimensional Wigner crystals.

Full Text - Carbon nanotubesOld nanotubes, new tricks | PDF (337 KB) - Carbon nanotubesOld nanotubes, new tricks

Subject Categories: Condensed-matter physics | Nanotechnology

Hyperentanglement: Breaking the communication barrier - pp268 - 269

Stephen P. Walborn

doi:10.1038/nphys927

Quantum mechanics provides the means for solving certain communication tasks more efficiently than is possible classically. Photons entangled in multiple degrees of freedom could provide a route to fully tap that potential.

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Subject Categories: Quantum physics | Information theory and computation | Optical physics

Astrophysics: Black is black - p269

Alison Wright

doi:10.1038/nphys937

Full Text - AstrophysicsBlack is black | PDF (461 KB) - AstrophysicsBlack is black

Subject Category: Astrophysics

Topological order: How spin splits the electron - pp270 - 271

Joel Moore

doi:10.1038/nphys925

In a solid, electrons behave differently than in a vacuum. In particular, their charge can break up into fractions of the elementary charge. Theoretical work shows how the electron's spin could help to observe fractional charges directly.

Full Text - Topological orderHow spin splits the electron | PDF (228 KB) - Topological orderHow spin splits the electron

Subject Categories: Quantum physics | Condensed-matter physics

High-temperature superconductivity: Fits and starts - pp271 - 272

Eric W. Hudson

doi:10.1038/nphys926

The complex behaviour of high-temperature superconductors has inspired some complex models and theories, but a conventional model seems to work just fine for scanning tunnelling spectroscopy.

Full Text - High-temperature superconductivityFits and starts | PDF (459 KB) - High-temperature superconductivityFits and starts

Subject Categories: Condensed-matter physics | Materials physics

Spin qubits: A host with many facets - p272

Andreas Trabesinger

doi:10.1038/nphys938

Full Text - Spin qubitsA host with many facets | PDF (354 KB) - Spin qubitsA host with many facets

Subject Categories: Quantum physics | Information theory and computation | Condensed-matter physics

Fractional charge and quantized current in the quantum spin Hall state - pp273 - 276

Xiao-Liang Qi, Taylor L. Hughes & Shou-Cheng Zhang

doi:10.1038/nphys913

Quantum spin Hall insulators are new states of matter that were recently predicted and observed. A theoretical work now explores distinct experimental manifestations resulting from the exotic behaviour that characterizes these structures.

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Subject Categories: Quantum physics | Condensed-matter physics

See also: News and Views by Moore

Quantum interference of tunnel trajectories between states of different spin length in a dimeric molecular nanomagnet - pp277 - 281

Christopher M. Ramsey, Enrique del Barco, Stephen Hill, Sonali J. Shah, Christopher C. Beedle & David N. Hendrickson

doi:10.1038/nphys886

An experimental study of a 'dimeric' single-molecule magnet—consisting of two coupled half-wheels of spin 7/2 each—provides evidence for quantum interference between the two sub-systems.

First Paragraph - | Full Text - Quantum interference of tunnel trajectories between states of different spin length in a dimeric molecular nanomagnet | PDF (783 KB) - Quantum interference of tunnel trajectories between states of different spin length in a dimeric molecular nanomagnet

Subject Categories: Atomic and molecular physics | Quantum physics | Condensed-matter physics

Beating the channel capacity limit for linear photonic superdense coding - pp282 - 286

Julio T. Barreiro, Tzu-Chieh Wei & Paul G. Kwiat

doi:10.1038/nphys919

Classically, one photon can transport one bit of information. But more is possible when quantum entanglement comes into play, and a record 'channel capacity' of 1.63 bits per photon has now been demonstrated, using a method that overcomes fundamental limitations of earlier approaches to 'superdense coding'.

First Paragraph - | Full Text - Beating the channel capacity limit for linear photonic superdense coding | PDF (436 KB) - Beating the channel capacity limit for linear photonic superdense coding | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Quantum physics | Information theory and computation

See also: News and Views by Walborn

Optical conductivity and the correlation strength of high-temperature copper-oxide superconductors - pp287 - 290

Armin Comanac, Luca de' Medici, Massimo Capone & A. J. Millis

doi:10.1038/nphys883

High-temperature superconductors are difficult to model because most conventional theories fail for the strong repulsive interactions between electrons. But what if the correlations are not as strong as believed? Perhaps the magnetic correlations are more essential.

First Paragraph - | Full Text - Optical conductivity and the correlation strength of high-temperature copper-oxide superconductors | PDF (623 KB) - Optical conductivity and the correlation strength of high-temperature copper-oxide superconductors | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Condensed-matter physics | Materials physics

Optically mapping the electronic structure of coupled quantum dots - pp291 - 295

M. Scheibner, M. Yakes, A. S. Bracker, I. V. Ponomarev, M. F. Doty, C. S. Hellberg, L. J. Whitman, T. L. Reinecke & D. Gammon

doi:10.1038/nphys882

Arrays of quantum dots can be useful for building 'artificial molecules', and potentially as elements of quantum information networks. But in practice, no two dots are the same. An optical technique provides the means for in situ characterization of individual dots, and their collective properties.

First Paragraph - | Full Text - Optically mapping the electronic structure of coupled quantum dots | PDF (1,205 KB) - Optically mapping the electronic structure of coupled quantum dots | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Electronics, photonics and device physics | Quantum physics | Optical physics

Injection of harmonics generated in gas in a free-electron laser providing intense and coherent extreme-ultraviolet light - pp296 - 300

G. Lambert, T. Hara, D. Garzella, T. Tanikawa, M. Labat, B. Carre, H. Kitamura, T. Shintake, M. Bougeard, S. Inoue, Y. Tanaka, P. Salieres, H. Merdji, O. Chubar, O. Gobert, K. Tahara & M.-E. Couprie

doi:10.1038/nphys889

Seeding a free-electron laser with pulses from a high-harmonic UV-light source increases its output intensity by three orders of magnitude. This approach has the potential to generate temporally coherent light at wavelengths down to the all-important 'water window', vital for studying biological samples.

First Paragraph - | Full Text - Injection of harmonics generated in gas in a free-electron laser providing intense and coherent extreme-ultraviolet light | PDF (370 KB) - Injection of harmonics generated in gas in a free-electron laser providing intense and coherent extreme-ultraviolet light

Subject Categories: Optical physics | Techniques and instrumentation

Gyro-resonant electron acceleration at Jupiter - pp301 - 304

Richard B. Horne, Richard M. Thorne, Sarah A. Glauert, J. Douglas Menietti, Yuri Y. Shprits & Donald A. Gurnett

doi:10.1038/nphys897

A comprehensive survey of data from the Galileo spacecraft suggests that the principle mechanism of ultra-relativistic electron acceleration in Jupiter's magnetosphere arises from their gyro-resonant interaction with whistler waves, in contrast with conventional understanding.

First Paragraph - | Full Text - Gyro-resonant electron acceleration at Jupiter | PDF (613 KB) - Gyro-resonant electron acceleration at Jupiter

Subject Categories: Astrophysics | Plasma physics

Ultrafast X-ray study of dense-liquid-jet flow dynamics using structure-tracking velocimetry - pp305 - 309

Yujie Wang, Xin Liu, Kyoung-Su Im, Wah-Keat Lee, Jin Wang, Kamel Fezzaa, David L. S. Hung & James R. Winkelman

doi:10.1038/nphys840

First Paragraph - | Full Text - Ultrafast X-ray study of dense-liquid-jet flow dynamics using structure-tracking velocimetry | PDF (746 KB) - Ultrafast X-ray study of dense-liquid-jet flow dynamics using structure-tracking velocimetry | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Optical physics | Fluid dynamics | Techniques and instrumentation

Watching rocks grow - pp310 - 313

John Veysey II & Nigel Goldenfeld

doi:10.1038/nphys911

Unlike most rocks, calcium carbonate at geothermal hotsprings grows at a visible rate, thus enabling a comparison between time-lapse photography, mathematical models and simulations of the growth dynamics.

First Paragraph - | Full Text - Watching rocks grow | PDF (782 KB) - Watching rocks grow | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Statistical physics, thermodynamics and nonlinear dynamics | Other physics

See also: News and Views by Hammer

The one-dimensional Wigner crystal in carbon nanotubes - pp314 - 318

Vikram V. Deshpande & Marc Bockrath

doi:10.1038/nphys895

The one-dimensional case of the so-called 'Wigner crystal' phase of electrons—long predicted but previously only seen in two-dimensional electron systems—has finally been observed, in a carbon nanotube.

Abstract - | Full Text - The one-dimensional Wigner crystal in carbon nanotubes | PDF (357 KB) - The one-dimensional Wigner crystal in carbon nanotubes | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Condensed-matter physics | Nanotechnology

See also: News and Views by Nygård

Evolution of the electronic excitation spectrum with strongly diminishing hole density in superconducting Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O₈₊ - pp319 - 326

J. W. Alldredge, Jinho Lee, K. McElroy, M. Wang, K. Fujita, Y. Kohsaka, C. Taylor, H. Eisaki, S. Uchida, P. J. Hirschfeld & J. C. Davis

doi:10.1038/nphys917

In conventional superconductors, the critical temperature goes to zero as the density of charge carriers falls due to increased scattering. But in high-temperature superconductors, the scattering rate as a function of charge carriers was unknown, until now.

Abstract - | Full Text - Evolution of the electronic excitation spectrum with strongly diminishing hole density in superconducting Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+ | PDF (1,914 KB) - Evolution of the electronic excitation spectrum with strongly diminishing hole density in superconducting Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+ | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Condensed-matter physics | Materials physics

See also: News and Views by Hudson

Suprafroth in type-I superconductors - pp327 - 332

Ruslan Prozorov, Andrew F. Fidler, Jacob R. Hoberg & Paul C. Canfield

doi:10.1038/nphys888

Froths and foams are complex structures, particularly those that disappear irreversibly. Superconducting froth, however, can be reversibly controlled by several external parameters, so it may help quantify froth dynamics across different systems.

Abstract - | Full Text - Suprafroth in type-I superconductors | PDF (1,460 KB) - Suprafroth in type-I superconductors | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Condensed-matter physics | Statistical physics, thermodynamics and nonlinear dynamics | Materials physics

The cold truth - p336

David Langford

doi:10.1038/nphys929

A little foresight.

Full Text - The cold truth | PDF (405 KB) - The cold truth