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Volume 4 Issue 5, May 2022

The cover of this issue illustrates a binary neutron-star merger ejecting material that gives rise to r-process elements. See Daniel Siegel

Image: Daniel Siegel, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics and University of Guelph. Cover design: Susanne Harris.

Editorial

  • The neutron and the positron were both discovered in 1932. This month we look back at these discoveries and find that we have more in common with early 20th century physicists that one might suspect.

    Editorial

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Comment

  • Machine learning methods have proved powerful in particle physics, but without interpretability there is no guarantee the outcome of a learning algorithm is correct or robust. Christophe Grojean, Ayan Paul, Zhuoni Qian and Inga Strümke give an overview of how to introduce interpretability to methods commonly used in particle physics.

    • Christophe Grojean
    • Ayan Paul
    • Inga Strümke
    Comment
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Research Highlights

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Reviews

  • 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.

    • Albert Lin
    • Daniel Witvliet
    • Vivek Venkatachalam
    Review Article
  • 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.

    • Daniel M. Siegel
    Review Article
  • 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.

    • Yan Zhou
    • Zuo-Yuan Dong
    • Xiao-Jia Chen
    Review Article
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Technical Reviews

  • Electric-double-layer transistors and ionic field-effect transistors enable continuous tuning of carrier densities in 2D superconductors, which are essential for studying novel quantum phenomena and finding new high-temperature superconductors. This Review summarizes recent advances and future development paths for electric-field-gated superconductivity in various ultrathin superconducting materials, including iron-based superconductors, transition-metal dichalcogenides, honeycomb bilayer superconductors and cuprates.

    • Peng Liu
    • Bin Lei
    • Xiaolin Wang
    Technical Review
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