Reviews & Analysis

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  • Topological lattice defects in topological materials offer a platform to explore a diverse range of phenomena, including fractional charges, chiral and gravitational anomalies, topological lasers and non-Hermitian skin effects. This Perspective article surveys the impact of these phenomena on condensed matter physics, photonics, acoustics and materials science.

    • Zhi-Kang Lin
    • Qiang Wang
    • Jian-Hua Jiang
    Perspective
  • Amyloid formation is an important class of protein self-assembly behaviour that is linked to functional processes and disease. This Review describes amyloid formation through the lens of general phase transitions, building on both classical and non-classical nucleation theories to illuminate fundamental molecular mechanisms underlying this phenomenon.

    • Thomas C. T. Michaels
    • Daoyuan Qian
    • Tuomas P. J. Knowles
    Review Article
  • Quantum simulations of the fundamental particles and forces of nature have a central role in understanding key static and dynamic quantum properties of matter. Motivations, techniques and future challenges for simulations of quantum fields are discussed, highlighting examples of early progress towards the dynamics of high-density, non-equilibrium systems of quarks, gluons and neutrinos.

    • Christian W. Bauer
    • Zohreh Davoudi
    • Martin J. Savage
    Perspective
  • Active matter locally dissipates energy to produce systematic motion. This Perspective highlights proliferation as a special type of activity that breaks particle number conservation and thereby gives rise to a unique set of collective phenomena characteristic of life.

    • Oskar Hallatschek
    • Sujit S. Datta
    • Ned S. Wingreen
    Perspective
  • This Review overviews the application of single photons in quantum communication and quantum computation discussing specific needs and requirements and achieved milestones and outlining future improvements.

    • Christophe Couteau
    • Stefanie Barz
    • Gregor Weihs
    Review Article
  • Atomic gases, usually confined in flat geometries, are now experimentally realized also in curved settings. This Perspective article analyses their many-body physics in the available geometries of rings and shells and discusses the open research questions.

    • Andrea Tononi
    • Luca Salasnich
    Perspective
  • As one of the most important protocols in quantum information technology, quantum teleportation enables the nonlocal transmission of unknown quantum information. This Review discusses the latest developments in the quantum teleportation of complex quantum states and applications to quantum communication and computing.

    • Xiao-Min Hu
    • Yu Guo
    • Guang-Can Guo
    Review Article
  • As we are at the beginning of the second century of quantum physics, we asked four researchers to share their views on new research directions trying to answer old, yet still open, questions in the foundations of quantum theory.

    • Eric G. Cavalcanti
    • Rafael Chaves
    • Yeong-Cherng Liang
    Viewpoint
  • Rapid advances in the capabilities of large language models and the broad accessibility of tools powered by this technology have led to both excitement and concern regarding their use in science. Four experts in artificial intelligence ethics and policy discuss potential risks and call for careful consideration and responsible usage to ensure that good scientific practices and trust in science are not compromised. 

    • Abeba Birhane
    • Atoosa Kasirzadeh
    • Sandra Wachter
    Viewpoint
  • Graph neural networks have been applied to many important physics tasks at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). This Technical Review categorizes these applications in a manner accessible to experts and non-experts alike by providing detailed descriptions of LHC physics and graph neural network design considerations.

    • Gage DeZoort
    • Peter W. Battaglia
    • Jean-Roch Vlimant
    Technical Review
  • Superconductivity and cascades of correlated phases have been discovered in Bernal bilayer and rhombohedral trilayer graphene. This Perspective reviews the recent experimental findings and provides an analysis of the theoretical models that aim to explain them.

    • Pierre A. Pantaleón
    • Alejandro Jimeno-Pozo
    • Francisco Guinea
    Perspective
  • Six researchers discuss the early history of the density matrix renormalization group algorithm and the developments it spurred over the past three decades.

    • Frank Verstraete
    • Tomotoshi Nishino
    • Miles E. Stoudenmire
    Viewpoint
  • Modern society relies on many interdependent networks such as electric grids, supply chain networks and ecological networks. This Perspective describes progress and challenges in harnessing insights from statistical physics and control theory to develop better control and management strategies of such complex networks and infrastructure systems.

    • Raissa M. D’Souza
    • Mario di Bernardo
    • Yang-Yu Liu
    Perspective
  • Diffusion is a fundamental transport mechanism that is distinct from wave propagation. Over the past decade, many approaches to control diffusion have been developed. This Review summarizes the origin, development and future of diffusion metamaterials that manipulate heat, particles and plasmas.

    • Zeren Zhang
    • Liujun Xu
    • Jiping Huang
    Review Article
  • Predicting atmospheric ice formation from aerosol particles for cloud and climate modelling remains challenging. This Review summarizes recent fundamental advances on the governing parameters that lead to ice nucleation from liquid droplets and solid substrates, applying experiments and computational theory.

    • Daniel A. Knopf
    • Peter A. Alpert
    Review Article
  • The dynamic pair distribution function (DyPDF) is an inelastic neutron scattering method that provides information about the local dynamics of a crystalline material. This Technical Review provides a comparison of data across spectrometers and outlines a robust data treatment regimen as a guide to users of this technique.

    • Kody A. Acosta
    • Helen C. Walker
    • Allyson M. Fry-Petit
    Technical Review
  • Although the complexity of quantum systems scales exponentially with their size, classical algorithms and optimization strategies can still play an important role in the characterization of quantum states, their dynamics and the detection process.

    • Valentin Gebhart
    • Raffaele Santagati
    • Cristian Bonato
    Review Article
  • Photocurrent can be used to reveal the out-of-equilibrium properties of quantum materials over a range of spatiotemporal scales. This Technical Review outlines the principles of photocurrent diagnostics and how it can be used to probe electronic states, quantum geometry and quantum kinetics of materials.

    • Qiong Ma
    • Roshan Krishna Kumar
    • Justin C. W. Song
    Technical Review
  • Quantum sensors enable new possibilities in biomedical applications due to their high sensitivity. In this Review, the status of quantum sensing is presented, and the path towards real-world applications on the molecular, cellular and organism scale is evaluated.

    • Nabeel Aslam
    • Hengyun Zhou
    • Hongkun Park
    Review Article