Articles

The realization of ultracold molecules in higher bands of an optical lattice sets the stage for the study of the interplay between orbital physics and the Bose–Einstein condensation and Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer superfluidity crossover.

Measurements on a single artificial atom—a quantum dot—coupled to an optical cavity show scattering dynamics that depend on the number of photons involved in the light–matter interaction, which is a signature of stimulated emission.

Solid-state systems are established candidates to study models of many-body physics but have limited control and readout capabilities. Ensembles of defects in diamond may provide a solution for studying dipolar systems.

It is very challenging to model hydrogen at high pressures and low temperatures because quantum effects become significant. A state-of-the-art numerical study shows that these effects cause important changes to the predicted phase diagram.

Reflection cannot only occur at interfaces in space but also in time. Transmission-line metamaterials support time interfaces at which interference has been observed, forming a temporal version of a Fabry–Pérot cavity.

The observation of band structure features typical of the kagome lattice in FeGe suggests that an interplay of magnetism and electronic correlations determines the physics of this material.

Observations of the Schwinger effect—the creation of matter by electric fields—have been hindered by the high required field strength. A mesoscopic variant of the Schwinger effect has now been realized in graphene transistors.

Materials that simultaneously display ferroelectricity and magnetism, and are metallic, are very rare. Now, the two-dimensional electron gas in an oxide heterostructure brings all of this behaviour together.

Active fluids exhibit regimes with a complex spatio-temporal structure reminiscent of inertial turbulence. Now, inertial and active turbulence are theoretically shown to be closely related indeed.

Switching of magnetic behaviour is one of the main ideas that drives spintronics. Now, magnetic switching via spin-orbit torque is shown in a moiré bilayer, introducing a platform for spintronic applications.

A levitated nanoparticle in an optical cavity has been cooled to its motional ground state in two degrees of freedom at the same time. Control of the cavity properties also enabled the observation of the transition from 1D to 2D ground-state cooling.

Ion acoustic bursts followed by electron acoustic bursts are observed during magnetic reconnection in a laboratory experiment. These bursts have been suggested to mediate energy dissipation.

It has been predicted that Josephson junction devices could produce quantized currents in analogy to the Shapiro steps of voltage used to define the voltage standard. These dual Shapiro steps have now been observed in a Josephson junction array.

Quantum turbulence typically entails reconnecting quantized vortices as seen in quantum fluids. Experiments with superfluid helium now show turbulent dynamics with negligible vortex reconnection, a regime dominated by interacting vortex waves at all length scales.

The calcium isotope ⁴¹Ca is a promising candidate to complement dating methods relying on radiocarbon. Small levels of ⁴¹Ca can be measured with atom-trap trace analysis, which brings the use of ⁴¹Ca a step closer to applications.

The scalability of quantum information processing applications is generally hindered by loss and inefficient preparation and detection. A minimal loss network based on phonons has now been realized with trapped ions.

A bursting bubble produces a jet drop previously estimated to be too large to contribute to aerosolization. Oil-coated bubbles produce fast and thin jets, which break up into much smaller drops with potential implications for airborne transmission.

Ultrafast photon–electron spectroscopy commonly requires a driving laser. Now, an inverse approach based on cathodoluminescence spectroscopy has allowed a compact solution to spectral interferometry inside an electron microscope, without a laser.

The molecular joint of a nanorobotic arm can be wound up to store mechanical energy and then relaxed to drive the rotation of a DNA nanodevice.

Photonic systems can exploit time as a degree of freedom analogous to space, eliminating the need for spatial patterning to achieve functionality. A Green’s function approach allows the design of disordered time scatterers with desired properties.