Physics articles within Nature Physics

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  • Letter |

    Optical vortices exhibit a corkscrew-like shape as they travel. The study of this phenomenon, known as singular optics, is now extended to the high-power regime where high-harmonic processes become evident. This type of radiation could help illuminate novel attosecond phenomena in atoms and molecules.

    • M. Zürch
    • , C. Kern
    •  & Ch. Spielmann

  • Letter |

    An analogue of a magnetic monopole is now observed in a condensed state of light–matter hybrid particles known as cavity polaritons. Spin-phase excitations of the polariton fluid are accelerated along the cavity under the influence of a magnetic field—just as if they were single magnetic charges.

    • R. Hivet
    • , H. Flayac
    •  & A. Amo

  • Letter |

    Chirality is usually manifested by differences in a material’s response to left- and right-circularly polarized light. This difference is the result of the specific distribution of charge within chiral materials. A similar response has now been found to result from the chiral spin structure of an antiferromagnet.

    • S. Bordács
    • , I. Kézsmárki
    •  & Y. Tokura

  • News & Views |

    Devices based on surface electrons in topological insulators are keenly anticipated, but singling these electrons out amid abundant bulk electrons poses a formidable challenge. Inspiration from the common transistor now enables manipulation of these exotic states.

    • L. Andrew Wray

  • Letter |

    Shor’s quantum algorithm factorizes integers, and implementing this is a benchmark test in the early development of quantum processors. Researchers now demonstrate this important test in a solid-state system: a circuit made up of four superconducting qubits factorizes the number 15.

    • Erik Lucero
    • , R. Barends
    •  & John M. Martinis

  • Article |

    The ability to modify a material’s magnetization with an electric field could enable lower-power electronic devices. Such ‘magnetoelectric’ behaviour is usually only seen at the interface between magnetostrictive and electrostrictive materials, but has now been observed in the bulk of single-component rare-earth ferrites.

    • Yusuke Tokunaga
    • , Yasujiro Taguchi
    •  & Yoshinori Tokura

  • Letter |

    Doping a topological insulator with manganese makes it magnetic. Moreover, decreasing the concentration of Dirac fermions in a Mn-doped topological insulator with an electric field increases the strength of its magnetic characteristics—a trait that could be valuable to the use of topological insulators in the development of spintronics.

    • Joseph G. Checkelsky
    • , Jianting Ye
    •  & Yoshinori Tokura

  • News & Views |

    Interfacial instabilities brought on by the penetration of one fluid into another hamper processes such as enhanced oil recovery from porous rock. But these instabilities can be suppressed with a simple gradient in fluid depth — a natural feature of many practical vessel geometries.

    • Anne Juel

  • Article |

    Spin–orbit interaction induces spin-polarization decay in semiconductor quantum wells. But this decay can be suppressed in favour of a helical spin mode by tuning the interaction. Optical pump–probe measurements provide direct evidence of the resulting helix—a signature that has so far only been inferred from transport measurements.

    • M. P. Walser
    • , C. Reichl
    •  & G. Salis

  • Article |

    Decreasing the doping of a cuprate superconductor below a certain critical value causes its critical temperature to fall, however the reason for this has been unclear. Sensitive measurements of the Nernst effect in yttrium barium copper oxide suggest it is the result of competition with an emerging stripe phase.

    • J. Chang
    • , N. Doiron-Leyraud
    •  & Louis Taillefer

  • Letter |

    When a low-viscosity fluid penetrates a fluid of higher viscosity confined by parallel plates, finger-like patterns propagate at the interface between the two fluids. Experiments now show that tapering the fluid cell can suppress this instability - providing interfacial control via a simple change in geometry.

    • Talal T. Al-Housseiny
    • , Peichun A. Tsai
    •  & Howard A. Stone

  • Article |

    Quantum discord is the total non-classical correlation between two systems. This includes, but is not limited to, entanglement. Photonic experiments now demonstrate that separable states with non-zero quantum discord are a useful resource for quantum information processing and can even outperform entangled states.

    • Borivoje Dakić
    • , Yannick Ole Lipp
    •  & Philip Walther

  • Article |

    Entanglement is not the only type of quantum correlation. Quantum discord is a broader measure of such non-classical interactions. An experimental investigation now shows how quantum discord can be consumed to encode information, even in the absence of entanglement.

    • Mile Gu
    • , Helen M. Chrzanowski
    •  & Ping Koy Lam

  • Research Highlights |

    • Iulia Georgescu

  • Research Highlights |

    • Abigail Klopper

  • Editorial |

    History has been made with the discovery of a Higgs-like particle at CERN.

  • News & Views |

    Graphene could offer an efficient and controllable interface between nanoscale optics and electronics, and promises a new generation of optoelectronic devices.

    • Stefan A. Maier

  • News & Views |

    Supersymmetric particles are prime candidates to make up the dark matter of the Universe — yet the lack of evidence for them so far from the Large Hadron Collider could force a rethink.

    • Alexander Merle
    •  & Tommy Ohlsson

  • Article |

    Short-lived kinetic states between equilibria are difficult to access experimentally, despite being crucial in many dynamical processes. Single-molecule experiments demonstrate that an extended fluctuation relation allows extraction of the free energies of these metastable states under non-equilibrium conditions.

    • Anna Alemany
    • , Alessandro Mossa
    •  & Felix Ritort

  • Letter |

    Two-dimensional Bose fluids—such as liquid-helium films, or confined ultracold atoms—cannot form a condensate, but become superfluid instead. Frictionless flow, proving superfluid behaviour, has now been observed in an ultracold two-dimensional Bose gas that is stirred with a laser beam.

    • Rémi Desbuquois
    • , Lauriane Chomaz
    •  & Jean Dalibard

  • News & Views |

    Hybrid traps for laser-cooled ions and neutral atoms make excellent cold-chemistry laboratories. Experiments now show that engineering quantum states can provide additional control for accessing and manipulating chemical reaction rates.

    • Paul S. Julienne

  • Letter |

    Chemical reactions between a single trapped ion and a condensate of ultracold neutral atoms are investigated by controlling the quantum states of both ion and atoms—revealing the effect of the hyperfine interaction on the reaction dynamics.

    • Lothar Ratschbacher
    • , Christoph Zipkes
    •  & Michael Köhl

  • Letter |

    In systems of oscillators, phase-locking behaviour can, in theory, coexist with incoherent dynamics—invoking the fabled chimera state. Now, experimental realization of a coupled-map lattice reveals dynamical states displaying coexisting spatial domains of coherence and incoherence.

    • Aaron M. Hagerstrom
    • , Thomas E. Murphy
    •  & Eckehard Schöll

  • Letter |

    Chimera states describing the stable coexistence of synchronous and incoherent dynamics have so far only been realized numerically. An experimental demonstration of these states in a network of discrete chemical oscillators reveals behaviour that differs from that predicted by existing phase-oscillator models.

    • Mark R. Tinsley
    • , Simbarashe Nkomo
    •  & Kenneth Showalter

  • News & Views |

    Cells migrate en masse to generate and renew tissue — but inadequate resolution and incompatible timescales obscure the mechanism behind this migration. A unique approach reveals that stress mediates collective motion by propagating in a wave from the leading edge to the population centre.

    • Manuel Théry

  • Article |

    Magnetic vortices confined to thin films gyrate with a dynamics determined by the vortex–core polarity, which switches when the gyration is fast enough. Fine-tuning these core-reversal oscillations reveals rich nonlinear behaviour, including commensurate and chaotic states.

    • Sebastien Petit-Watelot
    • , Joo-Von Kim
    •  & Thibaut Devolder

  • Article |

    An ideal amplifier has low noise, operates over a broad frequency range and has large dynamic range. A superconducting-resonator-based amplifier that combines all of these qualities is now demonstrated. The concept is applicable throughout the microwave, millimetre-wave and submillimetre-wave bands and can achieve a noise limit very close to that set by quantum mechanics.

    • Byeong Ho Eom
    • , Peter K. Day
    •  & Jonas Zmuidzinas

  • Article |

    Tissue growth and regrowth rely on the collective migration of sheets of cells. Gradients in tension established through intercellular forces guide this migration, but the mechanism driving the gradients has remained unclear. Innovative experiments now reveal their origin—in a mechanical wave set up by sequential cell reinforcement and fluidization.

    • Xavier Serra-Picamal
    • , Vito Conte
    •  & Xavier Trepat

  • Letter |

    How and why Fermi arcs—disconnected segments of the Fermi surface—emerge in the pseudogap phase of cuprate superconductors is a mystery. A technique for analysing angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy data that removes momentum broadening effects suggests these arcs do not reflect true Fermi surface states, which would explain why they do not form continuous loops.

    • T. J. Reber
    • , N. C. Plumb
    •  & D. S. Dessau

  • Letter |

    Nuclear spin is seen as a robust qubit. Electrons can be used to ‘read’ to the nuclear state, but their presence causes decoherence. Researchers now show that this problem can be circumvented using a temporary spin state, thus enabling entanglement of the nuclear state at unprecedented speeds.

    • Vasileia Filidou
    • , Stephanie Simmons
    •  & John J. L. Morton

  • Editorial |

    The bid to host the world's largest, most sensitive radio telescope has ended in a tie.

  • Editorial |

    Plans for the Extreme Light Infrastructure in eastern Europe are soon to be complete, with the choice of a fourth, and final, site for the facility.

  • News & Views |

    Hole-doped cuprate superconductors exhibit an enigmatic state known as the pseudogap state. Mapping the distribution of this state as it evolves in real space with doping indicates that the moment the pseudogap fills the material is when superconductivity emerges — suggesting an intimate connection between the two.

    • Peter Wahl

  • News & Views |

    Single electrons in quantum dots can be disturbed by the apparatus used to measure them. The disturbance can be mediated by incoherent phonons — literally, noise. Engineering acoustic interference could negate these deleterious effects and bring quantum dots closer to becoming a robust quantum technology.

    • Thaddeus D. Ladd

  • Article |

    Breaking the time-reversal symmetry of the surface states of topological insulators is predicted to produce many exotic and potentially useful phenomena. Spin-resolved angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy spectra reveal that magnetic dopants can induce such symmetry breaking in Be2Se3 thin films.

    • Su-Yang Xu
    • , Madhab Neupane
    •  & M. Zahid Hasan

  • Letter |

    Density functional theory provides a powerful framework for probing electronic structure in many-body systems. A new functional for particles interacting via short-range potentials extends its applicability to ultracold atoms in optical lattices.

    • Ping Nang Ma
    • , Sebastiano Pilati
    •  & Xi Dai

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