Articles in 2023

Physical networks are systems composed of physical entities, which conventional graph-based approaches fail to capture. Theoretical work now introduces a meta-graph technique to uncover the impact of physicality on the structure of networks.

A decade ago, the anti-laser made waves as a new type of perfect absorber that functions as a one-way trap door for light. Experiments have now demonstrated the control of light without absorbing it.

Network geometry is an emerging framework used to describe several topological and organizational features of complex networks. Now this approach has been extended to directed networks, which contain both symmetric and asymmetric interactions.

Cell division is governed by the positioning of a cytoskeletal structure called the spindle. Two methods, one based on laser ablation and the other on fluid flow assessments, are now shown to be useful tools for studying spindle positioning.

Non-Hermitian physics enables dynamic control of optical behaviour in real time, such as reflectionless scattering modes, which have now been demonstrated in a chaotic photonic microcavity.

A detailed understanding of phonon transport is crucial for engineering the thermal properties of materials. A particular doping strategy is now shown to lead to good thermoelectric performance with low thermal conductivity.

Landau’s theory of Fermi liquids predicts that impurities embedded in a Fermi sea of atoms form quasiparticles called polarons that interact with one another via the surrounding medium. Such mediated polaron–polaron interactions have been directly observed and are shown to depend on the quantum statistics of the impurities.

Individual electrons trapped on the surface of solid neon can operate as charge qubits with very long coherence times.

Polarons are quasi-particles formed by impurities together with induced excitations in a surrounding medium. Now, mediated interactions between polarons have been detected using atomic impurities embedded in a Fermi gas of ultracold atoms.

A computational method capable of capturing the effects of electronic interactions and scattering can help interpret the vibrational reflectance measurements in superconducting and bad metals.

Despite the theoretical prediction of spinaron quasiparticles in artificial nanostructures, experimental evidence has not yet been seen. Now it has been observed in a hybrid system comprising Co atoms on a Cu(111) surface.

A nonlinear optical approach has now enabled picosecond control of a complex band structure, driving a non-Hermitian topological phase transition across an exceptional-point singularity.

The phase transition from a topologically trivial state to non-Hermitian conducting edge modes can be controlled by optical nonlinearities, achieving picosecond switching speeds.

Understanding lattice-geometry-driven electronic structure and orbital character in a titanium-based superconducting kagome metal provides insights into the non-trivial topology and electronic nematicity of correlated quantum matter.

The simulation of open quantum many-body systems is one of the hardest tasks in computational physics. Now, quantum computers are close to answering crucial questions for such systems in a regime that classical computers cannot reach.

It is hoped that simulations of molecules and materials will provide a near-term application of quantum computers. A study of the performance of error mitigation highlights the obstacles to scaling up these calculations to practically useful sizes.

Resolving the structural changes of a deformed glass on the atomic scale is challenging due to its disordered nature. Now, high-energy diffraction measurements show that non-line-preserving atomic displacements in glasses correlate with structural anisotropy.

Metrology and meteorology: just two letters separating two similar and frequently confused words. Andrea Merlone, Chiara Musacchio and Walter Bich tell us about these different disciplines and ways in which they collaborate.