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The Hubble constant can be estimated from measurements of both the early and late Universe, but the two estimates disagree. In 2019 a number of independent measurements using different methods made this discrepancy harder to ignore.
Numerical methods such as the close-coupling, R-matrix and Kohn variational methods have been around for decades, but more recently they have been applied to the treatment of the time-dependent interaction of strong electromagnetic fields with atoms and molecules.
In 2019, new optical phenomena have been revealed in stacks of atomically thin semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides. These effects can be understood in terms of well-known, but also new, exotic, types of exciton.
Pseudo-electromagnetic fields emerge in inhomogeneous materials. This Review discusses the properties of such fields in the context of 3D topological semimetals, the origin and consequences of pseudo-fields in real materials and their field theory description.
Artificial spin ices are metamaterials displaying fascinating phenomena arising from the collective behaviour of nanoscale magnets. We review recent developments in terms of emergent magnetic monopoles, phase transitions, dynamics and geometries, and discuss future directions for research and potential applications.
Quantum sensors based on atom interferometry are moving from fundamental research towards commercial applications in metrology, geophysics, space, civil engineering, oil and minerals exploration, and navigation, but a number of challenges need to be overcome.
Random lasing, which exploits disorder to enhance stimulated emission, challenges the conventional descriptions of lasing. This Expert Recommendation describes experimental methods required to properly assess and demonstrate random lasing action.
The partonic (quark and gluon) structure of protons and neutrons is modified in heavy nuclei. This Review surveys how studies of photon-induced interactions reveal the density distribution of partons in nuclei, thereby probing quantum chromodynamics in high-density environments.
Black holes — from which no light escapes — have now been ‘seen’ by electromagnetic and gravitational-wave observatories. Datasets from these observations, released in the past year, give important hints about the environment, origin and growth of black holes.
Earth and planetary landscapes are composed of soft matter: amorphous materials that deform in response to broad-spectrum excitations, from fluid turbulence to plate tectonics. This Review surveys complex behaviours of earth materials that challenge existing physics frameworks and may inspire new approaches.
Multi-messenger astrophysics is an emerging discipline that combines the information from cosmic rays, neutrinos, gravitational waves and photons emitted by cosmic sources. This overview of the field highlights its challenges and exciting opportunities.
The emergence of 2D magnetic materials presents a unique opportunity to study magnetism and spintronics devices in new regimes. This Review surveys the basic properties of these materials, methods to read and write their magnetic states, and emerging device concepts.
In this Review, we discuss how quantum states of matter, such as Dirac materials and complex magnetic order, can be created bottom-up by patterning individual atoms on surfaces and subsequently characterized with scanning tunnelling microscopy and spectroscopy.
An analogy between wave propagation in hydrodynamics and in optics has yielded new insights into the mechanisms leading to the formation of giant rogue waves on the ocean. We review experimental progress and field measurements in this area.
Gauge theories, such as quantum electrodynamics, are a cornerstone of high-energy particle physics. They may also describe the physics of certain unassuming materials. Recent theoretical work moves this idea closer to reality.
The dynamics of quantum information is opening new perspectives on the behaviour of complex many-body systems. This Perspective covers progress made with atomic gases and trapped ions for accessing the dynamics of quantum correlations, entanglement and information scrambling in a broad parameter regime.
Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) is a tool for directly probing the electronic structure of solids and has had a crucial role in studying topological materials. In this Technical Review, we discuss the latest developments of various ARPES techniques and their applications to topological materials
Understanding entanglement in many-body systems provided a description of complex quantum states in terms of tensor networks. This Review revisits the main tensor network structures, key ideas behind their numerical methods and their application in fields beyond condensed matter physics.
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.
