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Sarah Antier describes the Global Rapid Advanced Network Devoted to the Multi-messenger Addicts (GRANDMA), which aims to identify and characterize the electromagnetic counterparts of gravitational wave sources
Andrew Levan and Peter Jonker discuss, on behalf of the Electromagnetic counterparts of gravitational wave sources at the Very Large Telescope (ENGRAVE), how the collaboration was formed and what its goals are in the era of multi-messenger astronomy.
Why the Hall conductance is quantized was an open problem in condensed matter theory for much of the past 40 years. Spyridon Michalakis who worked on the solution — published in 2015 — gives a personal take on how the field evolved.
Miguel Mostafa describes the Astrophysical Multimessenger Observatory Network (AMON), an online network that enables real-time coincidence searches using data from the leading multimessenger observatories and astronomical facilities.
The development of a new generation of detectors has been key to the success of X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs). Anna Bergamaschi, Aldo Mozzanica and Bernd Schmitt discuss the advances in detector technology made over the past 10 years and examine the challenges presented by emerging high-repetition-rate XFEL facilities.
The European XFEL is the first hard X-ray high-repetition-rate free-electron laser facility. Sakura Pascarelli, Serguei Molodtsov and Thomas Tschentscher, scientific directors of the European XFEL, discuss the challenges that lie ahead before the European XFEL can reach its full potential and cater for an international and diverse community of users.
The first decade of X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) has led to technological advances and scientific discoveries, but has also highlighted several facility-level challenges. Chi-Chang Kao, Director of SLAC, discusses the lessons to be learned from the first 10 years of operation and shares his thoughts on how facilities can overcome challenges facing XFEL development.
X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) have rapidly developed into unique tools for probing diverse systems of interest to different scientific disciplines with angstrom–femtosecond resolution. Claudio Pellegrini provides an overview of the milestones in the development of XFELs and their unique capabilities.
The rise of machine learning is moving research away from tightly controlled, theory-guided experiments towards an approach based on data-driven searches. Abbas Ourmazd describes how this change might profoundly affect our understanding and practice of physics.
X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) are unique tools that are making possible time-resolved measurements of structural and electronic dynamics at the quantum spatial and temporal scales. Jonathan Marangos discusses the transformative scientific potential of this capability but also stresses the importance of lowering barriers to access to maximize scientific reach.
The rapid progress of atomic and nuclear physics in the twentieth century changed the way scientific results are documented, preserved and disseminated. Boris Pritychenko explains how atomic and nuclear data tables have become a central resource for the community.
Keeping track of the rapidly improving solar cell performance is not as easy as it seems. Martin Green describes the Solar Cell Efficiency Tables that have been providing regular updates of the record solar cell performance since the 1990s.
The increasing entropy of a black hole that evaporates by emitting Hawking radiation is at odds with the predictions of quantum mechanics. Juan Maldacena discusses the latest advances in solving this puzzle, known as the black hole information paradox.
Knowing which atomic, molecular and optical physics computer code to use and how is a challenge. Andrew Brown surveys the available software packages and discusses how code development practices in academia could be improved.
The fluid mechanics of active materials, built around the idea of living systems as condensed matter made of free-energy-consuming particles, gives insight into biology and opens new directions in physics. Sriram Ramaswamy discusses the history and future of the field.
Insects have mastered flight to a degree that scientists are only now starting to comprehend. Itai Cohen and colleagues discuss some of the outstanding challenges and opportunities for studying this fascinating and beautiful behaviour.
Each year millions of patients benefit from diagnostic services enabled by advances in medical imaging. However, some services rely on the supply of technetium-99m from an ageing nuclear infrastructure. Kevin Charlton discusses new technologies to secure a sustainable supply.
Jose R. Alonso and colleagues describe technical advances that will allow the proposed IsoDAR (isotope decay at rest) cyclotron — being developed for neutrino physics research — to produce many medical isotopes more efficiently than existing cyclotrons can.
In positron emission tomography, up to 40% of positron annihilation occurs through the production of positronium atoms in the patient’s body, whose decay could provide information about disease progression. New research is needed to take full advantage of this information.
Despite much effort, the question of whether the Navier–Stokes equations allow solutions that develop singularities in finite time remains unresolved. Terence Tao discusses the problem, and possible routes to a solution.
