Physics articles from across Nature Portfolio

A highly efficient reconstruction method has been developed for the direct computation of Hamiltonian matrices in the atomic orbital basis from density functional theory calculations originally performed in the plane wave basis. This enables machine learning calculations of electronic structures on a large scale, which are otherwise not feasible with standard methods, and thus fills a methodological gap in terms of accessible length scales.

Use of precision spectroscopy to test physical models, such as the magnetic interactions of atoms, is often hampered by the lack of reliable values for fundamental properties of the nucleus. This limitation has been overcome for beryllium-9 by precisely determining the nuclear magnetic moment and Zemach radius, and by investigating the effect of bound electrons.

Electrons in a chiral topological material exhibit a unique orbital angular momentum profile in momentum space that resembles magnetic monopoles. It gives an opportunity to utilize the orbital motion of electrons for information processing — so-called orbitronics.

High-harmonic spectroscopy on solids is an ultrafast all-optical technique to study the structure and dynamics of materials. This Review discusses areas of condensed-matter physics where this technique can provide particular insight.

Cochlea is a high-resolution auditory transduction organ to distinguish sounds in both high sensitivity and broadband working frequency. The authors mimic a cochlea on a plate, which can separate, purify and decode complicated elastic waves in quite a compact way.

Correlated materials can show nematicity, but the nematic state usually exhibits even-fold rotational symmetry. Now, a correlated antiferromagnet is shown to host a three-state Potts vestigial nematicity that can be controlled by external strain.

Spin-to-charge conversion is the process through with a spin current is converted into charge current. It, along with its inverse effect, represents an essential building block for spintronics devices. Here, Choi et al. demonstrate non-volatile control of spin-to-charge conversion in a ferroelectric and graphene based heterostructure.

A highly efficient reconstruction method has been developed for the direct computation of Hamiltonian matrices in the atomic orbital basis from density functional theory calculations originally performed in the plane wave basis. This enables machine learning calculations of electronic structures on a large scale, which are otherwise not feasible with standard methods, and thus fills a methodological gap in terms of accessible length scales.

Use of precision spectroscopy to test physical models, such as the magnetic interactions of atoms, is often hampered by the lack of reliable values for fundamental properties of the nucleus. This limitation has been overcome for beryllium-9 by precisely determining the nuclear magnetic moment and Zemach radius, and by investigating the effect of bound electrons.

Electrons in a chiral topological material exhibit a unique orbital angular momentum profile in momentum space that resembles magnetic monopoles. It gives an opportunity to utilize the orbital motion of electrons for information processing — so-called orbitronics.

Quantum machines have a noise threshold past which classical machines cannot best them, researchers have learnt.

The geography of science is changing. As a result, a big push is needed to broaden the pool of scientists eligible to nominate their peers for Nobel prizes.

John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton pioneered computational methods that enabled the development of neural networks.