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Strong correlations may produce states of matter that do not have non-interacting counterparts, with new types of quantum criticality, superconductivity, and topological phases being recent highlights. This Review describes the physics underlying these correlated states and points to their potential for quantum applications.
Understanding light–matter interactions in layered materials is crucial for applications in photonics and optoelectronics. This Technical Review discusses the optical spectroscopy techniques to access details of the electronic band structure, crystal quality, crystal orientation and spin–valley polarization, including key aspects of practical set-ups to perform experiments for a broad range of applications.
Transitions between the topologically distinct vacuum sectors induce a chiral asymmetry in hot quark–gluon matter via a process analogous to the baryogenesis in the early Universe. This may soon be detected in heavy-ion collisions through the chiral magnetic effect.
Since the first measurement of the spin structure of the proton, there has been significant theoretical and experimental progress in understanding the origins of the proton spin. This Review discusses what we have learned so far, what is still missing and what to expect from the upcoming experiments.
A variety of quantum programming languages have been developed over the past few years, enabling newcomers and seasoned practitioners alike. This Review gives a brief introduction to quantum programming, overviewing some of the existing languages and the ecosystem around them.
Whereas high-temperature superconductivity in cuprates has been studied for 30 years, during the past year it has been reported in nickelates. This raises new questions for physicists and chemists about the mechanism of superconductivity.
The rapidly developing field of topological data analysis represents data via graphs rather than as solutions to equations or as decompositions into clusters. This Review discusses the methods and provides examples from physics and other sciences.
Strong experimental evidence for the existence of the simplest type of anyons (particles that are neither bosons nor fermions) has emerged this year. The next step is to uncover more exotic types of anyons, such as Majorana fermions.
The past decade has witnessed remarkable progress in our understanding of equilibration, thermalization and prethermalization, due in large part to experimental breakthroughs in ultracold atomic gases. This Review discusses theoretical and experimental advances on these topics and the challenges ahead.
Axion fields provide a unique way to understand large quantized electromagnetic responses in topological insulators and dynamics in Weyl semimetals. This Review discusses the theory of axion fields in condensed matter, their experimental realization and their application in next-generation devices.
The charge radius of the proton is controversial because measurements by different methods disagree. Recent results indicate that these measurements might be reconciled. In this Review, we discuss the experimental techniques used to measure the proton radius and describe the current status of the field as well as forthcoming experiments.
Designing new experiments in physics is a challenge for humans; therefore, computers have become a tool to expand scientists’ capabilities and to provide creative solutions. This Perspective article examines computer-inspired designs in quantum physics that led to laboratory experiments and inspired new scientific insights.
Holographic duality is an equivalence relation between a gravitational system and a quantum many-body system. The Review discusses various insights obtained from the duality into properties of strongly coupled matter, quantum many-body chaos and deep connections between quantum information and geometry.
The coupling of photons to material quasiparticles such as plasmons, phonons and excitons opens new possibilities in light–matter interactions. This Review presents a generalized view of such quasiparticles and the technique that describes their interactions with matter: macroscopic quantum electrodynamics.
Topological Majorana bound states have potential for encoding, manipulating and protecting quantum information in condensed-matter systems. This Review discusses emergence and characterization of Majorana bound states in realistic devices based on hybrid semiconducting nanowires and their connection to more conventional Andreev bound states.
Ferroelectric and ferroelastic domain walls are 2D topological defects with thicknesses approaching the unit cell level and emergent functional properties. This Review discusses the exotic polarization profiles that arise at domain walls and the fundamental mechanisms responsible for domain-wall conduction.
2D materials host various collective excitations, which either mutate or cease to exist in the bulk. In this Review, we select the most striking properties of 2D plasmons, excitons, phonons and magnons, contrasting them with the bulk versions.
Understanding the behaviour of materials at high pressures and temperatures is of great importance to planetary science and the physics of warm dense matter. This Review addresses the close connection between modelling the interiors of gaseous planets and the high-pressure physics of hydrogen and helium.
Acoustic and optical waves can be used to exert non-contact forces on microscopic and mesoscopic objects. In this Technical Review, we compare and contrast the use of these modalities, or combinations thereof, in terms of sample manipulation and suitability for biomedical studies.
