Review Articles

Polaritonics is the physics of strongly coupled light–matter states that studies condensates and superfluids of bosonic quasiparticles in solid-state systems. Coherent flows of exciton–polaritons can be used for classical and quantum information processing, offering advantages of full optical control and read-out.

Multi-messenger observations of gravitational waves and electromagnetic radiation directly probe the synthesis of heavy elements in the Universe. This Review summarizes recent results and charts future challenges and opportunities for identifying the astrophysical origin of roughly half of the elements heavier than iron.

New approaches to integrate high-dimensional recordings of brain activity with single-neuron resolution with simultaneous recordings of natural animal behaviour enable the study of brain-wide activity in small animals including worms, flies and fish during behaviours and decision-making. This Review surveys experimental and theoretical approaches that have opened this area of systems neuroscience.

Mastering thermal conductivities of materials under pressure is extremely important for managing thermal processes, understanding the thermal transport mechanisms and for potential technological applications. This Review surveys the progresses in technique developments, research results and scientific implications in this field.

Graphene oxide (GO) has attracted intensive research interest, owing to remarkable physicochemical properties. Nevertheless, its high chemical reactivity and low stability may lead to uncontrolled GO derivatives. The chemistry of GO can be controlled by selective derivatization of the oxygenated groups and C=C bonds and by appropriate characterization.

The observation of gravitational waves emitted in the merger of neutron stars and the observations of X-rays emitted by hotspots on their surfaces are beginning to reveal nuclear physics insights about these compact objects.

Much of the rich phenomenology of active matter can be traced back to violations of time-reversal symmetry and departure from Boltzmann statistics. This Review disentangles these nonequilibrium signatures for interacting and dilute systems, in the presence of obstacles and external potentials.

Quantum photonics offers an integrated and scalable approach to quantum information processing and communication. This article summarizes the state of the art and provides an outlook on future challenges and opportunities for quantum photonics based on 2D materials.

Spintronic properties of layered materials combining magnetism and strong spin–orbit coupling can be tailored by proper optimization of chemical interactions and structural material symmetries. This Review draws a route to achieving best performing material design for reaching the upper limit of spin–orbit torque efficiency in switching magnetization.

Metamaterials enable precise tailoring of light–matter interactions. This Review discusses recent developments in the use of metamaterials for imaging.

Light–matter interaction in 2D and topological materials provides a fascinating control knob for inducing emergent, non-equilibrium properties and achieving new functionalities in the ultrafast timescale. This Review discusses recent experimental progress on the light-induced phenomena and provides perspectives on the opportunities of proposed light-induced phenomena, as well as open experimental challenges.

Optical superoscillations are rapid spatial variations of the intensity and phase of light. This Review describes technologies for generating superoscillatory hotspots and discuss advances in imaging and metrology with superoscillatory light that, in combination with artificial intelligence, offer deeply subwavelength optical resolution.

Massive black holes dwell in many galaxies, and various physical processes have been invoked to explain their presence. This Review discusses their formation channels, how they have grown over time from smaller seeds and how we can constrain their origins.

Radiotherapy with accelerated heavy ions is a potential breakthrough in cancer therapy. This Review discusses the challenges in physics and radiobiology to make this therapy affordable and to fully exploit the clinical benefits.

The advent of commercial quantum devices has ushered in the era of near-term quantum computing. Variational quantum algorithms are promising candidates to make use of these devices for achieving a practical quantum advantage over classical computers.

Gaussian process regression (GPR) is a powerful, non-parametric and robust technique for uncertainty quantification and function approximation that can be applied to optimal and autonomous data acquisition. This Review introduces the basics of GPR and discusses several use cases from different fields.

The Higgs boson is central to our understanding of the structure of matter in high-energy particle physics: the origin of mass, stability of the vacuum and key issues in cosmology. Here we review recent progress in experiment and theory and the prospects for future discoveries.

Phonon heat conduction at the microscale and the nanoscale exhibits rich phenomena beyond the predictions of Fourier’s law, rivalling the phenomena of electrons. This Review discusses phonon heat conduction regimes, including the Casimir–Knudsen size effect, hydrodynamic transport, coherent transport (from quantization and localization) and divergence.

Majorana zero modes are non-Abelian anyons that hold promise for realizing topologically protected quantum computation. This Review discusses how scanning tunnelling microscopy can identify Majorana zero modes and investigate their properties, and outlines future research direction of the field.

The interconnectedness of the financial system is increasing over time, and modelling it as a network captures key interactions between financial institutions. This Review surveys the most successful applications of statistical physics and complex networks to the description and understanding of financial networks.