Talking the talk - p429

doi:10.1038/nphys996

Presenting your research to an auditorium of peers can be a daunting prospect, particularly for those at the start of their careers. But with a little thought and preparation, it needn't be.

Full Text - Talking the talk | PDF (122 KB) - Talking the talk

The final frontier? - p431

Mark Buchanan

doi:10.1038/nphys967

Full Text - The final frontier? | PDF (97 KB) - The final frontier?

Beyond the hype - pp433 - 434

Lionel Mason reviews Stephen Hawking: A Biography by Kristine Larsen

doi:10.1038/nphys975

Full Text - Beyond the hype | PDF (267 KB) - Beyond the hype

Entangled stage - p434

Richard Webb reviews Hapgood by Tom Stoppard

doi:10.1038/nphys984

Full Text - TheatreEntangled stage | PDF (193 KB) - TheatreEntangled stage

High-speed science - p435

doi:10.1038/nphys995

Full Text - High-speed science | PDF (159 KB) - High-speed science

Atomic dark solitons: Quantum canaries learn to fly - pp437 - 438

James Anglin

doi:10.1038/nphys980

Dark solitons in Bose–Einstein condensates have been made to live long enough for their dynamical properties to be observed. They might serve as a sensitive probe of the rich physics at the mesoscale.

Full Text - Atomic dark solitonsQuantum canaries learn to fly | PDF (225 KB) - Atomic dark solitonsQuantum canaries learn to fly

Subject Categories: Atomic and molecular physics | Statistical physics, thermodynamics and nonlinear dynamics | Quantum physics

Particle physics: A win–win situation - pp438 - 440

Ian Shipsey

doi:10.1038/nphys981

The most precise calculations yet of how two quarks locked in a bound state annihilate have been achieved using lattice quantum chromodynamics — and signal a curious discrepancy.

Full Text - Particle physicsA win–win situation | PDF (220 KB) - Particle physicsA win–win situation

Subject Category: Particle physics

Gravitational wave detectors: Squeezing up the sensitivity - pp440 - 441

Roman Schnabel

doi:10.1038/nphys990

Gravitational wave detectors based on laser interferometry have reached an incredible level of sensitivity. But to develop to the level needed to explore the Universe, the next generation of detectors will probably need to use squeezed light.

Full Text - Gravitational wave detectorsSqueezing up the sensitivity | PDF (317 KB) - Gravitational wave detectorsSqueezing up the sensitivity

Subject Categories: Optical physics | Electronics, photonics and device physics | Techniques and instrumentation

Quantum spin liquids: A flood or a trickle? - pp442 - 443

Arthur P. Ramirez

doi:10.1038/nphys978

Many have reported evidence for a quantum spin liquid state — in which quantum fluctuations prevent spin order — but thermodynamic evidence has been lacking, until now. Although it points the way, is it enough?

Full Text - Quantum spin liquidsA flood or a trickle? | PDF (187 KB) - Quantum spin liquidsA flood or a trickle?

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

Surface physics: Electron wrangling in quantum corrals - pp443 - 444

Eric J. Heller

doi:10.1038/nphys991

Unprecedented control over the superposition of electronic states in a 'quantum corral', exerted by changing the position of a single atom within it, provides a powerful tool for studying the quantum behaviour of matter.

Full Text - Surface physicsElectron wrangling in quantum corrals | PDF (170 KB) - Surface physicsElectron wrangling in quantum corrals

Subject Categories: Quantum physics | Atomic and molecular physics | Electronics, photonics and device physics | Nanotechnology

Thermodynamics: Limited adiabaticity - pp444 - 446

Wilhelm Zwerger

doi:10.1038/nphys979

The standard assumption in thermodynamics that a sufficiently slow change of external parameters will generate no entropy turns out to be wrong for low-dimensional, gapless systems. Its breakdown may be tested with ultracold gases.

Full Text - ThermodynamicsLimited adiabaticity | PDF (206 KB) - ThermodynamicsLimited adiabaticity

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

Superconductivity: Has lightning struck twice? - p446

May Chiao

doi:10.1038/nphys976

Full Text - SuperconductivityHas lightning struck twice? | PDF (147 KB) - SuperconductivityHas lightning struck twice?

Subject Categories: Condensed-matter physics | Materials physics

Principles and applications of compact laser–plasma accelerators - pp447 - 453

Victor Malka, Jérôme Faure, Yann A. Gauduel, Erik Lefebvre, Antoine Rousse & Kim Ta Phuoc

doi:10.1038/nphys966

The development of compact plasma accelerators, enabled by the advent of high-power lasers, could revolutionize the use of particle beams. This review presents the physical principles that underlie such devices and provides an outlook on the possibilities.

Abstract - | Full Text - Principles and applications of compact laser–plasma accelerators | PDF (394 KB) - Principles and applications of compact laser–plasma accelerators

Subject Categories: Plasma physics | Optical physics | Particle physics

Single-atom gating of quantum-state superpositions - pp454 - 458

Christopher R. Moon, Christopher P. Lutz & Hari C. Manoharan

doi:10.1038/nphys930

Unprecedented control over the superposition of electronic states of a 'quantum coral', by changing the position of a single atom within it, provides a powerful tool for studying the quantum behaviour of matter.

First Paragraph - | Full Text - Single-atom gating of quantum-state superpositions | PDF (1,007 KB) - Single-atom gating of quantum-state superpositions | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Quantum physics | Atomic and molecular physics | Electronics, photonics and device physics | Nanotechnology

See also: News and Views by Heller

Thermodynamic properties of a spin-1/2 spin-liquid state in a -type organic salt - pp459 - 462

Satoshi Yamashita, Yasuhiro Nakazawa, Masaharu Oguni, Yugo Oshima, Hiroyuki Nojiri, Yasuhiro Shimizu, Kazuya Miyagawa & Kazushi Kanoda

doi:10.1038/nphys942

Spins in a two-dimensional triangular lattice are geometrically frustrated and cannot form an ordered ground state. Instead, a spin-liquid state is expected, and now thermodynamic measurements suggest that a spin liquid exists down to the lowest temperatures.

First Paragraph - | Full Text - Thermodynamic properties of a spin-1/2 spin-liquid state in a -type organic salt | PDF (620 KB) - Thermodynamic properties of a spin-1/2 spin-liquid state in a -type organic salt

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

See also: News and Views by Ramirez

Towards fault-tolerant quantum computing with trapped ions - pp463 - 466

Jan Benhelm, Gerhard Kirchmair, Christian F. Roos & Rainer Blatt

doi:10.1038/nphys961

Like their classical counterparts, quantum computers can, in theory, cope with imperfections—provided that these are small enough. The regime of fault-tolerant quantum computing has now been reached for a system based on trapped ions, in which a gate operation for entangling qubits has been implemented with a fidelity exceeding 99% .

First Paragraph - | Full Text - Towards fault-tolerant quantum computing with trapped ions | PDF (345 KB) - Towards fault-tolerant quantum computing with trapped ions

Subject Categories: Atomic and molecular physics | Information theory and computation | Quantum physics

A molecular state of correlated electrons in a quantum dot - pp467 - 471

Sokratis Kalliakos, Massimo Rontani, Vittorio Pellegrini, César Pascual García, Aron Pinczuk, Guido Goldoni, Elisa Molinari, Loren N. Pfeiffer & Ken W. West

doi:10.1038/nphys944

Four electrons in a semiconductor quantum dot exhibit similar correlation effects to those found in a molecule. Excitations of these electrons can be probed by inelastic light scattering, which reveals a decoupling of their rigid rotational motion from their spin excitations.

First Paragraph - | Full Text - A molecular state of correlated electrons in a quantum dot | PDF (967 KB) - A molecular state of correlated electrons in a quantum dot | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Condensed-matter physics | Optical physics | Materials physics

A quantum-enhanced prototype gravitational-wave detector - pp472 - 476

K. Goda, O. Miyakawa, E. E. Mikhailov, S. Saraf, R. Adhikari, K. McKenzie, R. Ward, S. Vass, A. J. Weinstein & N. Mavalvala

doi:10.1038/nphys920

Substantial improvements, through the use of squeezed light, in the sensitivity of a prototype gravitational-wave detector built with quasi-free suspended optics represents the next step in moving such devices out of the lab and into orbit.

First Paragraph - | Full Text - A quantum-enhanced prototype gravitational-wave detector | PDF (260 KB) - A quantum-enhanced prototype gravitational-wave detector

Subject Categories: Optical physics | Electronics, photonics and device physics | Techniques and instrumentation

See also: News and Views by Schnabel

Breakdown of the adiabatic limit in low-dimensional gapless systems - pp477 - 481

Anatoli Polkovnikov & Vladimir Gritsev

doi:10.1038/nphys963

When a thermodynamic system is changed sufficiently slowly, entropy is generally conserved and the process is adiabatic, and therefore reversible. However, this adiabaticity does not seem to hold for low-dimensional systems with a high-density of low-energy states.

Abstract - | Full Text - Breakdown of the adiabatic limit in low-dimensional gapless systems | PDF (366 KB) - Breakdown of the adiabatic limit in low-dimensional gapless systems | Supplementary information

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

See also: News and Views by Zwerger

Anyonic interferometry and protected memories in atomic spin lattices - pp482 - 488

Liang Jiang, Gavin K. Brennen, Alexey V. Gorshkov, Klemens Hammerer, Mohammad Hafezi, Eugene Demler, Mikhail D. Lukin & Peter Zoller

doi:10.1038/nphys943

A proposal describes how to detect topologically ordered states of ultracold matter in an optical lattice, and shows how these exotic states, which strongly correlated quantum systems can exhibit, could be harnessed for practical applications, such as robust quantum computation.

Abstract - | Full Text - Anyonic interferometry and protected memories in atomic spin lattices | PDF (736 KB) - Anyonic interferometry and protected memories in atomic spin lattices | Supplementary information

Subject Categories: Atomic and molecular physics | Quantum physics | Information theory and computation

Probing quantum and thermal noise in an interacting many-body system - pp489 - 495

S. Hofferberth, I. Lesanovsky, T. Schumm, A. Imambekov, V. Gritsev, E. Demler & J. Schmiedmayer

doi:10.1038/nphys941

The analysis of the interference fringes generated by initially independent one-dimensional Bose condensates reveals contributions of both quantum noise and thermal noise, advancing our fundamental understanding of quantum states in interacting many-body systems.

Abstract - | Full Text - Probing quantum and thermal noise in an interacting many-body system | PDF (525 KB) - Probing quantum and thermal noise in an interacting many-body system

Subject Categories: Quantum physics | Statistical physics, thermodynamics and nonlinear dynamics | Atomic and molecular physics

Oscillations and interactions of dark and dark–bright solitons in Bose–Einstein condensates - pp496 - 501

Christoph Becker, Simon Stellmer, Parvis Soltan-Panahi, Sören Dörscher, Mathis Baumert, Eva-Maria Richter, Jochen Kronjäger, Kai Bongs & Klaus Sengstock

doi:10.1038/nphys962

Solitons are encountered in a wide range of nonlinear systems, from water channels to optical fibres. They have also been observed in Bose–Einstein condensates, but only now have such 'ultracold solitons' been made to live long enough for their dynamical properties to be studied in detail.

Abstract - | Full Text - Oscillations and interactions of dark and dark–bright solitons in Bose–Einstein condensates | PDF (851 KB) - Oscillations and interactions of dark and dark–bright solitons in Bose–Einstein condensates

Subject Categories: Atomic and molecular physics | Statistical physics, thermodynamics and nonlinear dynamics

See also: News and Views by Anglin

Can of wormholes - p504

Neale Morison

doi:10.1038/nphys985

Take a trip.

Full Text - Can of wormholes | PDF (183 KB) - Can of wormholes