Volume 18 Issue 12, December 2022

There is an urgent need to rethink the Nobel Prize in Physics in the light of the climate crisis. As expressed by its founder, the award should acknowledge research that addresses pressing challenges for humanity.

Making monolayer superconductors creates interesting effects, but often decreases the transition temperature compared to 3D materials. Instead, intercalating molecules into a layered superconductor tailors the superconductivity with fewer trade-offs.

Optical experiments reveal nematicity and broken time-reversal symmetry in the charge density waves in kagome metals.

Ensembles of weakly interacting atoms have enabled some of the most precise measurements ever made. Now researchers have shown that making these atoms work together in a strongly interacting regime can boost sensitivity by orders of magnitude.

The observation of quantized vortices in a rotating gas of magnetic atoms confirms a long-standing prediction and has far-reaching implications for the study of phenomena related to superfluidity.

Many quantum applications require the careful preparation of quantum harmonic oscillators. The combination of a high-power microwave drive and weak nonlinearity enables fast control of such systems, with implications for quantum computing and metrology.

Fractional charges are one of the hallmarks of topological matter and the building blocks of various topological devices. Now, there are indications that their fingerprint in terms of electrical noise is less obvious, but more universal, than expected.

Embryonic development is characterized by large cellular flows. The cells retain their positional information despite these flows thanks to an unjamming of cells that pull along jammed cells in a way that preserves initial tissue patterning.

Experiments with small flocks of sheep show intermittent collective motion events driven by random leaders that guide the group. A model reveals information pooling capabilities, suggesting a mechanism for swarm intelligence.

The spatiotemporal profile of the electric field around a high-energy electron beam was visualized using an ultrafast technique based on electro-optic sampling. By investigating the formation of the Coulomb field it was possible to experimentally confirm the validity of the predictions of special relativity regarding electromagnetic fields.

Measurements of a transversely polarized target were used to probe the spin structure of the proton in the low-energy region where the interactions between the quarks cannot be ignored. These results provide a benchmark for testing our understanding of the strong force.

An ultracold spinor Bose gas was used to achieve advanced experimental control and detection of an easy-plane ferromagnet, allowing observation of the system as it approaches equilibrium. The measurements revealed twofold superfluidity in the spin and density degrees of freedom with very different critical speeds.

The formation of bubbles at liquid–liquid interfaces is challenging to explain because gas pockets cannot be stabilized by cracks on solid impurities. Experiments show that a difference in the gas solubilities of two immiscible liquids provides a gas reservoir, which allows gas to accumulate at the interface, leading to bubble formation.

Recent experiments utilizing strain have shed light on the role of electronic nematicity in determining the properties of unconventional superconductors. This Perspective reviews these developments and discusses open questions.

Electrons in the non-superconducting state of cuprates can exhibit unusual transport behaviour. Now, analysis of experimental data shows that the magnetoresistance in this state is conventional, but influenced by an anisotropic scattering rate.

The superconducting critical temperature of monolayer materials is often lower than their bulk counterparts. Now, intercalation is shown to induce two-dimensional superconducting properties while maintaining the bulk critical temperature.

Cavitation refers to the emergence of bubbles from liquids undergoing pressure reduction. A hitherto unknown cavitation scenario is now reported, with bubbles originating from the atomically smooth interface between two immiscible liquids.

The Lorentz transformation of electromagnetic potentials is confirmed in experiments with a highly energetic electron beam. This provides another test of the predictions of special relativity.

Measurements of the proton’s generalized spin polarizabilities provide discriminating power between effective descriptions of the strong interaction at low energy.

Interacting quantum systems near criticality have been proposed as potential probes for quantum metrology. An experiment with Rydberg atoms now proves the enhanced sensitivity of critical many-body systems to small variations in external parameters.

Ultracold gases composed of lanthanide atoms are characterized by long-range dipolar interactions. These have now been exploited to observe quantized vortices in a dipolar condensate through the manipulation of the atoms by rotating external magnetic fields.

A quantum simulation experiment reveals the thermalization of a ferromagnetic system realized with a one-dimensional spinor Bose gas, providing quantitative insights into the condensation dynamics of large magnetic systems.

A noise-resilient protocol implemented in a cavity resonator coupled to a qubit demonstrates that large nonlinear couplings are not a necessary requirement for the fast universal control and state preparation of engineered quantum systems.

The interplay between superconductivity that might break time-reversal symmetry and charge order is a key issue in kagome materials. Now, optical measurements show that spatial and time-reversal symmetries are broken at the onset of charge order.

Shot noise has traditionally been used to measure the charge of quasiparticles in a variety of mesoscopic systems. However, at sufficiently low temperatures, this usual notion tends to break down for fractional quantum Hall effect states.

Embryo patterning relies on morphogen gradients. Now, a morphogen gradient also encodes an unjamming transition, enabling collective cellular flows that re-shape embryos while preserving patterning.

Collective and self-organized behaviour of sheep consists of intermittent episodes in which the animals follow a temporal leader—a role that is switched between various members of the group.

Properties of relaxor ferroelectrics are governed by polar nanodomains. Polarization rotation facilitated by these domains investigated by means of epitaxial strain reveals a competition between chemistry-driven disorder and strain-driven order.

Cervix and breast carcinomas are highly heterogeneous in their mechanical properties across scales. This heterogeneity provides the tumour with stability and room for cell motility.

The use of quantum effects and digital technologies is changing the measurement of electrical power and energy, as explained by Héctor Laiz.