Phase transitions and critical phenomena articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    While monolayer of 1T-TaS2 is considered to be a Mott insulator, the nature of the bulk insulating state is debated. Here the authors introduce a ladder-type structures with fractional misalignment of adjacent layers, showing that it becomes a Mott insulator due to decoupling between the layers.

    • Yihao Wang
    • , Zhihao Li
    •  & Liang Cao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Phase diagrams of materials are typically based on a static order parameter, but it faces challenges when distinguishing subtle phase changes, such as re-ordering. Here the authors introduce a dynamic re-order parameter, in particular magnons, and illustrate it in a material with complex magnetic phases.

    • Byung Cheol Park
    • , Howon Lee
    •  & Taewoo Ha

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Inertial active matter can self-organize into coexisting phases that feature different temperatures, but experimental realizations are limited. Here, the authors report the coexistence of hot liquid and cold gas states in mixtures of overdamped active and inertial passive Brownian particles, giving a broader relevance.

    • Lukas Hecht
    • , Iris Dong
    •  & Benno Liebchen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Superconductors with hexagonal symmetry are expected to be isotropic particularly near the critical temperature Tc, a property called emergent rotational symmetry (ERS). Here, the authors use calorimetry to study the hexagonal kagome superconductor CsV3Sb5 and find a violation of the expected ERS, hinting at realization of exotic superconductivity.

    • Kazumi Fukushima
    • , Keito Obata
    •  & Shingo Yonezawa

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors present Nernst measurements on a 2D film of amorphous MoxGe1−x, which shows a magnetic-field-induced superconductor-metal-insulator transition. The intermediate metal phase is known as the “anomalous metal” (AM) state. The authors conclude that the AM state originates from broadening of the superconductor-insulator transition.

    • Koichiro Ienaga
    • , Yutaka Tamoto
    •  & Satoshi Okuma

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Some materials host multiple charge density wave states, however, their dynamics and the nature of phase transitions are often unclear. Here, using temperature and orientation resolved ultrafast spectroscopy, the authors reveal charge density waves of different dimensionality in CuTe and elucidate their mechanism.

    • Nguyen Nhat Quyen
    • , Wen-Yen Tzeng
    •  & Chih-Wei Luo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Strongly interacting interlayer excitons and the interplay between excitons and electronic states have recently been studied in moire superlattices. Here the authors study moire WS2/WSe2 heterobilayer with tuneable electron and exciton populations and find signatures of an excitonic Mott insulating state.

    • Beini Gao
    • , Daniel G. Suárez-Forero
    •  & Mohammad Hafezi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Gapped quantum antiferromagnets can undergo field or pressure induced phase transitions to the magnetically ordered state, which have distinct critical exponents. While there are many examples of field induced transitions, thus far the pressure induced case has proven difficult to realize. Herein, the authors demonstrate such a pressure driven phase transition in the quantum antiferromagnet, DTN.

    • Kirill Yu. Povarov
    • , David E. Graf
    •  & Sergei A. Zvyagin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The understanding of salty water droplet freezing is limited. The authors examine the formation of brine film on top of frozen salty droplets and discover a new ice crystal growth pattern sprouting from the bottom of the brine film.

    • Fuqiang Chu
    • , Shuxin Li
    •  & Nenad Miljkovic

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Authors control heat transfer through twisting moiré conductive thermal metasurface, showcasing the potential for manipulating thermal conductivity and temperature gradients with imitated magic angles, thereby realizing multifunctional thermal metadevices.

    • Huagen Li
    • , Dong Wang
    •  & Cheng-Wei Qiu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Learning the dynamics governing a simulation or experiment usually requires coarse graining or projection, as the number of transition rates typically grows exponentially with system size. The authors show that transformers, neural networks introduced initially for natural language processing, can be used to parameterize the dynamics of large systems without coarse graining.

    • Corneel Casert
    • , Isaac Tamblyn
    •  & Stephen Whitelam

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The field of hydride superconductivity is currently attempting to increase the critical temperature Tc, while also lowering the required stabilization pressure. Here, L.C. Chen et al. study (Y,Ce)H9 alloys and find maximum Tc ~ 140 K at 130 GPa pressure.

    • Liu-Cheng Chen
    • , Tao Luo
    •  & Xiao-Jia Chen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Soft composite solids are building blocks for many functional and biological materials, yet it remains challenging to predict their mechanical properties. Zhao et al. propose a criticality framework to connect the mechanics to the critical behaviour near the shear-jamming transition of the dispersed inclusions.

    • Yiqiu Zhao
    • , Haitao Hu
    •  & Qin Xu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    P. Poduval et al. theoretically study the nonzero-temperature vestigial phases of a 2D model exhibiting both triplet superconductivity and magnetism. They show that this model allows for a unique superconducting state in which the condensate consists of entities with three electrons and one hole, with properties similar to those seen in experiments on moiré systems.

    • Prathyush P. Poduval
    •  & Mathias S. Scheurer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The mechanism of charge density wave order in V-based kagome metals has been debated. Here the authors use a range of experimental techniques combined with ab initio calculations to study the electronic structure and phonon modes of ScV6Sn6, revealing the dominant role of strong electron-phonon coupling.

    • Yong Hu
    • , Junzhang Ma
    •  & Ming Shi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Metallic systems in magnetic fields enter the quantum limit when the cyclotron energy exceeds the Fermi energy. Here the authors introduce the analogue of the quantum limit for insulators, where the Zeeman energy exceeds the cyclotron energy, and show that it explains key features of the Kondo insulator YbB12.

    • Christopher A. Mizzi
    • , Satya K. Kushwaha
    •  & Neil Harrison

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Stabilizing charge density wave states in low-dimensional systems is challenging. Here, the authors stabilize an ordered incommensurate charge density wave at elevated temperatures via endotaxial synthesis of TaS2 polytype heterostructures, where charge density wave layers are encapsulated within metallic layers.

    • Suk Hyun Sung
    • , Nishkarsh Agarwal
    •  & Robert Hovden

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Variational autoregressive networks have been employed in the study of equilibrium statistical mechanics, chemical reaction networks and quantum many-body systems. Using these tools, Tang et al. develop a general approach to nonequilibrium statistical mechanics problems, such as dynamical phase transitions.

    • Ying Tang
    • , Jing Liu
    •  & Pan Zhang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Photoinduced phase transitions occur in a variety of materials and allow for the optical control of the materials properties. Here, Herve et al present a streaming powder X-ray diffraction method allowing them to study the ultrafast photoinduced phase transition of Rb0.94Mn0.94Co0.06[Fe(CN)6]0.9 within thermal hysteresis.

    • Marius Hervé
    • , Gaël Privault
    •  & Eric Collet

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Superconductivity was recently reported experimentally in nitrogen-doped lutetium hydride with Tc = 294 K at 1 GPa. Here, via theoretical calculations taking into account temperature and quantum anharmonic lattice effects, the authors find that room-temperature superconductivity in the suggested parent phase of LuH3 cannot be explained by a conventional electron-phonon mediated pairing mechanism.

    • Roman Lucrezi
    • , Pedro P. Ferreira
    •  & Christoph Heil

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The superconductor UTe2 exhibits a reentrant superconducting phase at magnetic fields above 40 T for particular field angles. Here, from high-field Hall-effect measurements, T. Helm et al. find evidence for a partial compensation between the applied field and an exchange field, pointing to the Jaccarino-Peter effect as a possible mechanism for the reentrant superconductivity.

    • Toni Helm
    • , Motoi Kimata
    •  & Jean-Pascal Brison

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Identification of nodes that play a crucial role in the complex network functionality is of high relevance for supply, transportation, and epidemic spreading networks. The authors propose a metric to evaluate nodal dominance based on competition dynamics that integrate local and global topological information, revealing fragile structures in complex networks.

    • Marcus Engsig
    • , Alejandro Tejedor
    •  & Chaouki Kasmi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Van der Waals antiferromagnets offer a unique platform for studying magnetism in reduced dimensions, however, the low dimensionality, combined with lack of net magnetization, renders investigation challenging with conventional experimental probes. Here, Houmes et al show how van der Waals antiferromagnets can be investigated via the resonances of a vibrating rectangular membranes of this material.

    • Maurits J. A. Houmes
    • , Gabriele Baglioni
    •  & Herre S. J. van der Zant

  • Article
    | Open Access

    An abnormal stress memory effect is discovered in different types of glassy materials when they are subjected to a low strain after a high strain. This strategy can be used to depress the stress relaxation and increase the stability under loading.

    • Yu Tong
    • , Lijian Song
    •  & Jun-Qiang Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Resistive switching of 1T-TaS2 is promising for next-generation electronics. Here, using in operando electron microscopy, the authors determine that Joule heating drives the switching process, which will aid the engineering of future devices.

    • James L. Hart
    • , Saif Siddique
    •  & Judy J. Cha

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The predicted dissipative quantum phase transition in a Josephson junction coupled to resistive environment has been examined in recent experiments. In a heat transport experiment, Subero et al. show that the junction acts as an inductor at high frequencies, while DC charge transport confirms insulating behaviour.

    • Diego Subero
    • , Olivier Maillet
    •  & Jukka P. Pekola

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors report a controllable third-order cusp singularity in the phase-tracked closed-loop oscillation of two coupled mechanical modes. This finding addresses the challenge of constructing and controlling higher-order singularities.

    • Xin Zhou
    • , Xingjing Ren
    •  & Hui Jing

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Quantum effects due to zero-point phonon vibrations are well-explored in bulk ferroelectrics, but little is known about them in ultra-thin films. Luo et al. report atomistic simulations of ultra-thin ferroelectrics, showing that, unlike in bulk, quantum fluctuations stabilize topological structures.

    • Wei Luo
    • , Alireza Akbarzadeh
    •  & Laurent Bellaiche

  • Article
    | Open Access

    sp3 amorphous carbon exhibits exceptional mechanical, thermal, and optical properties, but cannot be synthesized using traditional processes. Here authors report a nearly pure sp3−hybridized amorphous carbon synthesized from C70 which shows more short/medium-range order and enhanced thermal conductivity compared to C60.

    • Yuchen Shang
    • , Mingguang Yao
    •  & Bingbing Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Unconventional charge order with chiral response to a magnetic field was observed in kagome metals like KV3Sb5, but the mechanism is not fully understood. Tazai et al. develop a theory based on the bond order fluctuation mechanism and provide a unified view of quantum phases in this material family.

    • Rina Tazai
    • , Youichi Yamakawa
    •  & Hiroshi Kontani

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A charge-density wave state was recently reported in the bilayer kagome metal ScV6Sn6, but its nature is debated. Here, using inelastic X-ray scattering, the authors observe two competing charge-density waves and find the ground state is promoted by a momentum-dependent electron-phonon interaction.

    • Saizheng Cao
    • , Chenchao Xu
    •  & Yu Song

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The presence of excitonic instability and its relationship with a structural transition in Ta2NiSe5 has been debated. Chen et al. map out the electronic bands and lattice distortion across the semimetal-to-semiconductor transition with sulfur doping, revealing the crucial role of electron-phonon coupling.

    • Cheng Chen
    • , Weichen Tang
    •  & Yu He

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Kondo effect from magnetic impurities has been proposed as a probe of fractionalized excitations in a topological quantum spin liquid. Lee et al. experimentally demonstrate the Kondo effect in a Kitaev candidate material α-RuCl3 with dilute Cr impurities.

    • S. Lee
    • , Y. S. Choi
    •  & K.-Y. Choi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Multi-technique synchrotron measurements support the viability of solid FeO-rich structures at Earth’s mantle base. An order-disorder transition identified in the iron defect structure of FeO may lead to unique physical properties in the region.

    • Vasilije V. Dobrosavljevic
    • , Dongzhou Zhang
    •  & Jennifer M. Jackson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Heavy-fermion superconductors feature a magnetic quantum critical point linked to the Kondo effect breakdown. Wang et al. use pressure-dependent Hall measurements to identify a crossover energy scale, confirming this in pure CeRhIn5, while revealing a shift to spin density wave criticality with Sn-doping.

    • Honghong Wang
    • , Tae Beom Park
    •  & Tuson Park

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The mechanism of the charge density wave in AV3Sb5 kagome metals is still actively discussed. Using large-scale molecular dynamics simulations, the authors propose a mechanism of the transition based on the condensation of preformed charge-ordered states and resolve several outstanding experimental issues.

    • Changwon Park
    •  & Young-Woo Son

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Dynamic compression experiments enable material studies in regimes relevant for planetary science, but temperature is difficult to measure in these challenging conditions. Here, the authors report on temperature, density, pressure, and structure of dynamically compressed Cu up to 1 TPa determined from extended x-ray absorption fine structure and velocimetry.

    • H. Sio
    • , A. Krygier
    •  & Y. Ping

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