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Sunspots are transient cool regions on the Sun's photosphere where concentrated magnetic field lines suppress convection. It turns out that sunspot oscillations can map the coronal magnetic field strength with high resolution. The image was captured using the HARDcam instrument on the Dunn Solar Telescope, which is funded by the UKs Science and Technology Facilities Council.Letter p179IMAGE: DAVID B. JESSCOVER DESIGN: ALLEN BEATTIE
Emergent phenomena are common in condensed matter. Their study now extends beyond strongly correlated electron systems, giving rise to the broader concept of quantum materials.
Many-electron wavefunctions face the exponential-wall problem at large electron numbers. Formulating wavefunctions with the help of cumulants effectively avoids this problem and provides a valuable starting point for electronic-structure calculations for solids.
Single-layer transition metal dichalcogenides have already made their mark in the world of device physics. Twin studies have now found that they exhibit unconventional Ising pair superconductivity.
Single-molecule techniques have long given us insight into the motion and interactions of individual molecules. But simulations now show that the dynamics inside single proteins is not as simple as we thought — and that proteins are forever changing.
Ab initio calculations of an atomic nucleus with 48 nucleons set a benchmark for computational nuclear physics and provide new insights into the properties of the atomic nucleus and strongly interacting matter.
Kohn’s theorem states that the electron cyclotron resonance is unaffected by many-body interactions in a static magnetic field. Yet, intense terahertz pulses do introduce Coulomb effects between electrons—holding promise for quantum control of electrons.
The strong confinement of plasmons in graphene makes them interesting for practical applications, but also difficult to excite. An all-optical technique can excite plasmons in graphene over a range of frequencies.
Experiments show that electron waves can be confined to and guided along the edges of monolayer and bilayer graphene sheets, analogous to the guiding of light waves in optical fibres.
A combination of strong spin–orbit coupling and electronic correlations in pyrochlore iridates produces a quantum insulator–metal transition that can be induced by applying a magnetic field along specific crystalline axes.
The superconducting properties of NbSe2 as it approaches the monolayer limit are investigated by means of magnetotransport measurements, uncovering evidence of spin–momentum locking.
The electric-field-induced superconducting properties of MoS2 are investigated by means of magneto-transport measurements, uncovering evidence of spin–momentum locking.
A detailed scanning tunnelling microscopy study of the cuprate superconductor Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x reveals the microscopic origin of the d-symmetry form factor density wave that exists in the pseudogap phase of this material.
Using large magnetic fields to drive domain walls in nanowires causes precessional motion, which reduces the velocity. The Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction is shown to circumvent this problem by inducing soliton-like magnetic domain wall motion.
The thermodynamic properties of artificial spin ice are strongly influenced by the manner in which its constituent nanomagnets are arranged. The so-called tetris lattice geometry is now shown to lead to emergent one-dimensional correlations.
Sliding friction involves the rupturing of interfacial bonds. Measurements of the balance between the dissipation and release of energy when ruptures take place now show that sliding frictional motion can be described by means of fracture mechanics.
Molecular dynamics simulations reveal the non-equilibrium nature of protein dynamics. Together with spectroscopy data, evidence for self-similar, fractal time behaviour spans 13 decades—the entire range over which proteins function biologically.
Certain bacteria swim by rotating a single helical filament, moving forwards and backwards with similar speeds. The discovery that the torque is not equal in both directions links them to multifilament species with opposite filament handedness.
Sunspots are transient cool regions on the Sun’s photosphere where concentrated magnetic field lines suppress convection. It turns out that sunspot oscillations can map the coronal magnetic field strength with high resolution.
Determining—and defining—the size of an atomic nucleus is far from easy. First-principles calculations now provide accurate information on the neutron distribution of the neutron-rich 48Ca nucleus—and constraints on the size of a neutron star.
Hydrostatic pressure is used as a means to tune the two-dimensional electron gas hosted in a GaAs/AlGaAs crystal from a topologically ordered to a spontaneously broken symmetry phase.