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Advances in semiconductor technologies have enabled the development of numerous designs of silicon tracking detectors in particle physics. This Technical Review outlines the current state-of-the-art technologies and discusses challenges, future directions and some of the recent applications outside particle physics.
Atomic clocks reached a record-breaking uncertainty of less than 10−18 and the time needed to compare clocks is now less than an hour. These results push towards a possible redefinition of the second from a microwave to an optical standard.
Electron–positron annihilations at centre-of-mass energies between 2.0 GeV and 4.6 GeV at BESIII enabled precision measurements of fundamental constants of the standard model of particle physics, discovered non-standard, multi-quark hadrons and observed a number of unusual properties of standard mesons and baryons.
Electric dipole moments (EDMs) of atoms and molecules are a sensitive probe for sources of time-reversal symmetry violation beyond the standard model. In this Perspective, we review recent progress in EDM searches with atoms and molecules and survey proposed next-generation experiments.
This Review tackles how soft condensed matter physics can assist in the understanding of complex food systems, by relying on the foundations of established theories on polymers, colloids and surfactants to unravel the properties of food macrocomponents and the challenges associated with this task.
The geometric phase is a deep and influential concept in modern physics and related sciences. This Review briefly discusses its origin, mathematical formulation and various forms, some of which are topological; then elaborates on contemporary optical and condensed-matter applications.
This Review describes how acoustic cavitation can be used to improve the delivery of drugs for the treatment of diseases such as cancer and stroke. Methods for seeding cavitation, treatment monitoring, and current and future clinical applications are described.
The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), an upcoming astronomical survey, will deeply observe the entire southern sky in a broad range of colours. We present the LSST science opportunities and technical challenges in the field of galaxy formation and evolution.
Although the differential equations that describe the physical climate system are deterministic, there are reasons, both theoretical and practical, why computational representations of these equations should be stochastic. This Perspective surveys the benefits of stochastic modelling of weather and climate.
Buckling is the familiar response of thin objects to compression. Less familiar is that small-scale buckles can act as a buffer, enabling objects to access new modes of deformation. This Review illustrates examples of this phenomenon and discusses the physical conditions that make it possible.
Using quantum states of light for imaging both reveals quantum phenomena and enables new protocols that result in images that surpass classical limitations. Such systems require both quantum light sources and often the ingenious use of detector technologies.
Quantum aspects of transport through single molecules are observable at room temperature. In this Technical Review, we discuss the different processes and energy scales involved in charge transport through single-molecule junctions, the resulting electronic functionalities and the new possibilities for controlling these functionalities for the realization of nanoscale devices.
Atomically precise measurements in 2D materials can be used to quantify the effects of energetic electron irradiation. In this Perspective, we discuss how understanding of electron–matter interactions can help to stimulate the development of quantitative models that are generalizable to a wide range of materials.
The LHCb collaboration announced the observation of CP violation in the decays of the D0 meson, the lightest particle containing charm quarks, which might provide clues to why there is more matter than antimatter in the Universe.
This Perspective describes how statistical physics helps understand some of the key aspects of cities: their spatial structure and social organization, the distribution of their population, urban mobility and how some critical factors vary with population.
The knowledge of local structures of non-crystalline materials is of fundamental importance in the understanding of their physical properties. This Review describes recent advances in local structural analysis methods, which shed new light on mysterious phenomena in liquids and glasses.
Layered black phosphorus and its isoelectronic group IV monochalcogenides have distinctive physical properties arising from their unusual crystal symmetries. This Review discusses some of the interesting physical phenomena, possible device applications and future research directions for this group of materials.
Synthetic dimensions provide a way to artificially engineer extra spatial dimensions through other degrees of freedom. We review how synthetic dimensions have emerged as a promising tool for quantum simulations of topological lattice models in atomic, molecular and optical systems.
The brain is the quintessential complex system, boasting incredible feats of cognition and supporting a wide range of behaviours. Physics has much to offer in the quest to distil the brain’s complexity to a number of cogent organizing principles.
