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In 1931, the psychoanalyst Carl Jung took on an unusual patient, the brilliant young physicist, Wolfgang Pauli. Arthur I. Miller tells the story of their friendship, how they impacted each other’s work, and reflects on creativity.
In the 1980s, the discovery of electron states that fractionalize in the presence of a time-reversal symmetry breaking magnetic field opened up new directions in condensed matter physics. In 2023, evidence has accumulated that a version of these states in which the time-reversal symmetry breaking is spontaneous appears in moiré materials.
Quantum sensing exploits properties of quantum systems to go beyond what is possible with traditional measurement techniques, hence opening exciting opportunities in both low-energy and high-energy particle physics experiments.
This Review covers the intriguing physics behind orbital angular momentum lasers, summarizing the exciting prospects at the interface between structured light and structured matter.
Non-fullerene acceptors have boosted the development of organic photovoltaics. This Review highlights the photophysics and device physics of non-fullerene organic photovoltaics, including exciton generation, diffusion, transport, separation and charge recombination.
Machine learning techniques may appear ill-suited for application in fields that prioritize rigor and deep understanding; however, they have recently found unexpected uses in theoretical physics and pure mathematics. In this Perspective, Gukov, Halverson and Ruehle have discussed rigorous applications of machine learning to theoretical physics and pure mathematics.
Neural operators learn mappings between functions on continuous domains, such as spatiotemporal processes and partial differential equations, offering a fast, data-driven surrogate model solution for otherwise intractable numerical simulations of complex real-world problems.
Many everyday English words have a double meaning, being used as physics jargon. This month, we share some of our favourite stories of how physics terms came to be.
Developing photodetectors that work across the electromagnetic spectrum remains a challenge, and there are many trade-offs to be considered, including speed, efficiency, noise, spectral detection range and cost. This Review discusses the photophysical attributes of the active materials that define the interrelated aspects of response amplitude and temporal dynamics in photodetectors.
This Review summarizes differences in several mechanical properties that play a role in human cancer development, at the cell and tissue levels. Comprehensive cell and tissue quantitative mechanical properties are provided based on cancer types and organs of origin.
The standard model of particle physics describes the fundamental constituents of matter and their interactions. We review the status of experimental hints for new physics, which, if confirmed, would require the extension of the standard model with new particles and new interactions.
Similar to acoustic and electromagnetic waves, water waves are classical waves that can be controlled by artificial structures such as water wave crystals and metamaterials. This Review surveys the development of water wave manipulation using artificial structures and describes its potential applications.
Science and society are inextricably entangled, but the discussion of social issues in optics and photonics is, at best, treated as peripheral to the field. A group of researchers, technicians, administrative staff, and clinical liaisons share how they came together to start a conversation recognizing these oft-disregarded issues.
In 2023, pulsar timing arrays announced what could become the first ever discovery of a stochastic gravitational wave background: the random superposition of gravitational waves permeating the cosmos — a vestige of cosmic processes in the Universe.
Structure and function of biological tissues are closely intertwined. This Review surveys the challenges in uncovering critical physical elements involved in the mechanical regulation of curved tissues across different length scales and examines how changes in curvature influence cell functions.
Good writing is about having something interesting and original to say. Generative AI tools might provide technical help, but they are no substitute for your unique perspective.
Pietro Barabaschi, Director General of ITER, calls for measures and incentives to carefully document the entire research process, including dead ends and failures, instead of reporting just the successful final results.
Mónica Bello, Curator and Head of Arts at CERN talks about the programmes that have been fostering the dialogue between artists and physicists for over a decade with the aim of exploring the cultural significance of fundamental research.
