Featured
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Article |
Ultra-compact quasi-true time delay for boosting wireless channel capacity
A quasi-true time delay is demonstrated for a microwave device implemented in a CMOS technology to miniaturize true-time-delay components of beam-steering systems, addressing the fundamental channel-capacity limitations and increasing data transmission in wireless communications.
- Bala Govind
- , Thomas Tapen
- & Alyssa Apsel
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Article |
Integrated frequency-modulated optical parametric oscillator
An integrated device that combines optical parametric oscillation and electro-optic modulation in lithium niobate creates a flat-top frequency-comb-like output with low power requirements.
- Hubert S. Stokowski
- , Devin J. Dean
- & Amir H. Safavi-Naeini
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Correspondence |
Space and nuclear pioneers show the value of empowering women in STEM
- Farhan M. Asrar
- , Safa Siddiqui
- & Soyeon Yi
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Essay |
The spy who flunked it: Kurt Gödel’s forgotten part in the atom-bomb story
Robert Oppenheimer’s isn’t the only film-worthy story from the nuclear age. Kurt Gödel’s cameo as a secret agent was surprising — and itself a bomb.
- Karl Sigmund
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Comment |
Big science in Latin America: accelerate particles and progress
An advanced light source for research would boost growth in the Greater Caribbean region — scientific, economic and societal.
- Victor M. Castaño
- , Pedro Fernández de Córdoba
- & Galileo Violini
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Research Briefing |
Measuring the quantum vibrations of a small drum at room temperature
A combination of technical improvements in noise mitigation enabled the observation of the quantum force of light on a millimetre-scale drum at room temperature. This experimental system permits the drum’s position to be measured with an accuracy close to the quantum limit.
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News |
How heavy is a neutrino? Race to weigh mysterious particle heats up
Physicists discuss experiments that could improve laboratory measurements of the super-light particle’s mass.
- Davide Castelvecchi
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News & Views |
Quantum sensor settles debate about superconductivity in hydrides
By adapting a device designed to create extremely high pressures into one that can sense magnetic fields, researchers have obtained evidence that a hydrogen-rich material is a superconductor, eliminating long-standing doubts.
- Kin On Ho
- & Sen Yang
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Article |
Imaging the Meissner effect in hydride superconductors using quantum sensors
In order to explore superconductivity in hydride materials, local magnetometry inside a diamond anvil cell is performed with sub-micron spatial resolution at megabar pressures using nitrogen-vacancy colour centres.
- P. Bhattacharyya
- , W. Chen
- & N. Y. Yao
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Research Highlight |
Laser pulses engrave an unlikely surface: soap films
Bumping up the detergent content allows a laser pulse to carve a groove in ethereal films.
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Obituary |
Arno A. Penzias (1933–2024), co-discoverer of the cosmic microwave background
Astrophysicist whose radio-wave observations confirmed the Big Bang origin of the Universe.
- John Bally
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Research Briefing |
Fractional quantum Hall effect at zero magnetic field observed in an unexpected material
The fractional quantum anomalous Hall effect occurs when the Hall resistance in a material is quantized to fractional multiples of the fundamental unit h/e2 at zero magnetic field. Observing the effect in a system consisting of a combination of five-layer graphene and hexagonal boron nitride enriches the family of topological matter phases, and opens up new opportunities in quantum computation.
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News & Views |
Light can restore a heart’s rhythm
Implantable electric pacemakers save millions of lives worldwide, but they aren’t perfect. A proof-of-concept study shows that using light to regulate a heartbeat might be a better option than existing strategies.
- Igor R. Efimov
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News & Views |
Nanotraps boost light intensity for future optical devices
A method for configuring light-trapping devices promises better optical nanodevices by amplifying light and enhancing the emission efficiency of luminescent nanomaterials — without the need for complex technology upgrades.
- Kirill Koshelev
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Article |
Fractional quantum anomalous Hall effect in multilayer graphene
Integer and fractional quantum anomalous Hall effects in a rhombohedral pentalayer graphene–hBN moiré superlattice are observed, providing an ideal platform for exploring charge fractionalization and (non-Abelian) anyonic braiding at zero magnetic field.
- Zhengguang Lu
- , Tonghang Han
- & Long Ju
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Article
| Open Access
Avoiding fusion plasma tearing instability with deep reinforcement learning
Artificial intelligence control is used to avoid the emergence of disruptive tearing instabilities in the magnetically confined fusion plasma in the DIII-D tokamak reactor.
- Jaemin Seo
- , SangKyeun Kim
- & Egemen Kolemen
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Article
| Open Access
Directive giant upconversion by supercritical bound states in the continuum
An experimental design consisting of a photonic-crystal nanoslab covered with upconversion nanoparticles demonstrates the phenomenon of supercritical coupling, resulting in giant enhancement of upconversion by photonic bound states in the continuum.
- Chiara Schiattarella
- , Silvia Romano
- & Gianluigi Zito
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Research Briefing |
Ultrafast, nanoscale control of electrical currents using light
Tailoring symmetries in an innovative class of optoelectronic metasurface produces a rich landscape of tunable current patterns down to the nanoscale. These materials provide opportunities for ultrafast light-controlled charge flows that could have applications in terahertz science, information processing and other realms.
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Research Briefing |
Topological matter created on a quantum chip produces quasiparticles with computing power
Non-Abelian anyons are emergent quasiparticles found in exotic quantum states of matter, which could have applications in fault-tolerant topological quantum computing. But performing the manipulations necessary to make these quasiparticles has proved a challenge — now overcome through a happy confluence of theoretical and experimental innovation.
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News & Views |
Layered ferroelectric materials make waves — and vortices
By combining materials-synthesis techniques, researchers have come up with a way of building layered structures that display intriguing wave-like patterns of electric polarization, and could be useful for next-generation electronics.
- Berit H. Goodge
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Article
| Open Access
Room-temperature quantum optomechanics using an ultralow noise cavity
A room-temperature demonstration of optomechanical squeezing of light and measurement of mechanical motion approaching the Heisenberg limit using a phononic-engineered membrane-in-the-middle cavity with ultralow noise.
- Guanhao Huang
- , Alberto Beccari
- & Tobias J. Kippenberg
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Article |
Observation of plaid-like spin splitting in a noncoplanar antiferromagnet
Examining the in-plane spin components of the noncoplanar antiferromagnet manganese ditelluride provides spectroscopic and computational evidence of materials with a new type of plaid-like spin splitting in the antiferromagnetic ground state.
- Yu-Peng Zhu
- , Xiaobing Chen
- & Chang Liu
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News & Views |
New type of magnetism splits from convention
Magnetic materials with zero net magnetization fall into two classes: conventional antiferromagnets and altermagnets. Physicists have identified a property in altermagnets that widens the divide between the two groups.
- Carmine Autieri
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Article
| Open Access
Altermagnetic lifting of Kramers spin degeneracy
Using photoemission spectroscopy and ab initio calculations, evidence is given of two distinct unconventional mechanisms of lifted Kramers spin degeneracy generated by the altermagnetic phase of centrosymmetric MnTe with vanishing net magnetization.
- J. Krempaský
- , L. Šmejkal
- & T. Jungwirth
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Article |
Non-Abelian topological order and anyons on a trapped-ion processor
A trapped-ion quantum processor is used to create ground-states and excitations of non-Abelian topological order on a kagome lattice of 27 qubits with high fidelity.
- Mohsin Iqbal
- , Nathanan Tantivasadakarn
- & Henrik Dreyer
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Article
| Open Access
A 2D ferroelectric vortex pattern in twisted BaTiO3 freestanding layers
The stacking of freestanding ferroelectric perovskite layers with controlled twist angles results in a peculiar pattern of polarization vortices and antivortices that emerges from the flexoelectric coupling of polarization to strain gradients.
- G. Sánchez-Santolino
- , V. Rouco
- & J. Santamaria
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Research Briefing |
Solitary light pulses on a chip-sized laser open up analytical applications
Self-reinforcing light pulses known as solitons are fundamental structures in wave dynamics. Previously, solitons could be produced only by bench-top lasers, but they can now also be generated using chip-sized mid-infrared lasers. This innovation enables the development of portable, efficient tools for use in spectroscopy, environmental sensing and medical diagnostics.
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Career Feature |
I run a physics lab — and thousands of kilometres a year
In 2023, Jenny Hoffman ran across the United States in 47 days, smashing the women’s world record. But she still found time to lead a research team.
- Sara Reardon
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Article |
Observation and quantification of the pseudogap in unitary Fermi gases
This study describes experiments with ultracold lithium Fermi gases in which many-body pairing leads to the emergence of a pseudogap, and it confirms theoretical predictions relevant to cuprate superconductivity.
- Xi Li
- , Shuai Wang
- & Jian-Wei Pan
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Article
| Open Access
Evidence of superconducting Fermi arcs
We provide evidence for superconducting topological Fermi arcs in PbBi2—a Weyl semimetal previously studied mostly for its bulk properties—from which Marjorama fermions could be derived for research in quantum computers.
- Andrii Kuibarov
- , Oleksandr Suvorov
- & Sergey Borisenko
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Article
| Open Access
Signatures of a surface spin–orbital chiral metal
A spin–orbital- and angular-momentum-sensitive methodology used to study Sr2RuO4 reveals subtle spectroscopic signatures that are consistent with the formation of spin–orbital chiral currents at the surface of the material.
- Federico Mazzola
- , Wojciech Brzezicki
- & Antonio Vecchione
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News & Views |
Active fluids navigate networks by solving sudoku-like problems
Networks filled with self-propelled fluids display meandering patterns that have been shown to follow rules similar to those of sudoku puzzles — offering design principles for microfluidic devices, and the possibility of ‘active fluid’ logic.
- Mathieu Le Verge-Serandour
- & Karen Alim
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News |
CERN’s supercollider plan: $17-billion ‘Higgs factory’ would dwarf LHC
A feasibility study on the Future Circular Collider identifies where and how the machine could be built — but its construction is far from a done deal.
- Elizabeth Gibney
- & Davide Castelvecchi
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Research Highlight |
The mystery of Feynman’s sprinkler is solved at last
A puzzle named after the Nobel-prizewinning physicist has been solved by experiments with a submerged sprinkler.
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News |
Building used by Marie Curie will be dismantled to erect cancer centre
The disused and formerly radioactive Pavillon des Sources in Paris will be rebuilt nearby, after an agreement between scientists and the French culture ministry.
- Nisha Gaind
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Article
| Open Access
Ultracold field-linked tetratomic molecules
Ultracold polyatomic molecules can be created by electroassociation in a degenerate Fermi gas of microwave-dressed polar molecules through a field-linked resonance.
- Xing-Yan Chen
- , Shrestha Biswas
- & Xin-Yu Luo
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Research Highlight |
Who needs qubits? Physicists make light-based ‘qumodes’ for quantum computing
Careful retooling of laser beams allows scientists to harness photons for performing quantum calculations.
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News & Views |
Mobile atoms enable efficient computation with logical qubits
Small groups of mobile neutral atoms have been manipulated with extraordinary control to form ‘logical’ quantum bits. These qubits can perform quantum computations more reliably than can individual atoms.
- Barbara M. Terhal
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Article |
Observing dynamical phases of BCS superconductors in a cavity QED simulator
The dynamical phases of out-of-equilibrium Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer superconductors have been simulated using cold atoms levitated inside an optical cavity.
- Dylan J. Young
- , Anjun Chu
- & James K. Thompson
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News |
Leading US particle-physics lab faces uncertain future
Several organizations are vying for the contract to manage Fermilab, after it received failing grades from the US Department of Energy.
- Dan Garisto
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Article
| Open Access
The persistence of memory in ionic conduction probed by nonlinear optics
Single-cycle terahertz pumps are used to impulsively trigger ionic hopping in battery solid electrolytes, probing ion transport at its fastest limit and demonstrating the connection between activated transport and the thermodynamics of information.
- Andrey D. Poletayev
- , Matthias C. Hoffmann
- & Aaron M. Lindenberg
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Article
| Open Access
Testing quantum electrodynamics in extreme fields using helium-like uranium
An experiment sensitive to higher-order quantum electrodynamics effects and electron–electron interactions in the high-Z regime was performed using a multi-reference method based on Doppler-tuned X-ray emission from stored relativistic uranium ions with different charge states.
- R. Loetzsch
- , H. F. Beyer
- & M. Trassinelli
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Article |
Nozaki–Bekki solitons in semiconductor lasers
Free-running stable optical dissipative solitons, called Nozaki–Bekki solitons, are created in a ring semiconductor laser; their spontaneous formation with tuning of laser bias eliminates the need for an external optical pump.
- Nikola Opačak
- , Dmitry Kazakov
- & Benedikt Schwarz
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News & Views |
From the archive: the mechanics of athletics, and the eating habits of jellyfish
Snippets from Nature’s past.
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Book Review |
How Einstein built on the past to make his breakthroughs
The iconic physicist’s theories of relativity and atomic motions were not so revolutionary, a penetrating history argues.
- Helge Kragh
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Obituary |
John L. Heilbron (1934–2023), historian of science
Rigorous historian who shed light on how researchers’ personalities and institutions are central to the development of scientific knowledge.
- Cathryn Carson
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News |
China’s new dark-matter lab is biggest and deepest yet
The laboratory is scaling up its equipment to hunt for dark matter.
- Gemma Conroy
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News |
Pioneering nuclear-fusion reactor shuts down: what scientists will learn
The decommissioning of the Joint European Torus near Oxford, UK — a test bed for ITER — will take until 2040 and be studied in detail.
- Elizabeth Gibney
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