Theoretical physics articles within Nature Communications

Featured

  • Article
    | Open Access

    High-Tc superconductivity is thought to be associated with spatial electronic ordering, which for cuprates is not well understood yet. Here the authors use Monte Carlo simulations to show the emergence of a soft-matter-like electronic phase between the antiferromagnetic and the superconducting states.

    • M. Capati
    • , S. Caprara
    •  & J. Lorenzana

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A wide variety of interesting phenomena arise in 2D systems subject to external gauge fields, but these are sometimes challenging to verify experimentally. Here the authors propose a setup to simulate 2D physics with a 1D arrangement of cavities, by exploiting the orbital angular momentum of trapped photons.

    • Xi-Wang Luo
    • , Xingxiang Zhou
    •  & Zheng-Wei Zhou

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Thermal operations, a model of thermodynamic processes for small quantum systems out of equilibrium, are well-understood in absence of coherence. Here the authors introduce cooling processes, a generalization of thermal operations and find necessary and sufficient conditions for coherent state transitions via cooling processes.

    • Varun Narasimhachar
    •  & Gilad Gour

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Full tomography of the quantum state of a many-body system becomes harder as more and more atoms are included. Here the authors borrow a concept from condensed-matter physics, continuous matrix-product states, and present an efficient approach for experimental quantum-field tomography.

    • A. Steffens
    • , M. Friesdorf
    •  & J. Eisert

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Connections in networks are organized to fulfil a function, and a common one is targeted transport or navigation. Here the authors use game theory to show how networks designed to maximize navigation efficiency at minimal cost share basic structural properties, which are also found in real cases.

    • András Gulyás
    • , József J. Bíró
    •  & Dmitri Krioukov

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The cold dark matter paradigm predicts that Milky Way-like galaxies should have dwarf galaxies with dark matter halos as satellites. Ural et al.present a new model, independent of cosmological simulations, that constrains the pre-infall mass of the Milky Way satellite Carina to a value lower than expected.

    • Uğur Ural
    • , Mark I. Wilkinson
    •  & Matthew G. Walker

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Phase diagrams are useful to describe the different states of matter, although for mechanically instable system the derivation of a free energy and thus of phase diagrams has been a challenge. Here, the authors propose a computational method to define the free energy of mechanically unstable phases.

    • A. van de Walle
    • , Q. Hong
    •  & R. Sun

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The connection between information and thermodynamics is embodied in the figure of Maxwell’s demon, a feedback controller. Here, the authors apply thermodynamics of information to signal transduction in chemotaxis of E. coli, predicting that its robustness is quantified by transfer entropy.

    • Sosuke Ito
    •  & Takahiro Sagawa

  • Article |

    In strongly coupled systems lacking long-lived quasiparticles, conventional methods are inadequate to study the dynamics of phase transitions. Here, the authors use holographic duality to investigate the superconducting transition and show that critical dynamics and formation of topological defects are universal.

    • Julian Sonner
    • , Adolfo del Campo
    •  & Wojciech H. Zurek

  • Article |

    Two-dimensional quantum spin liquid states, which retain spin disorder down to low temperatures, have never been realized experimentally. Here, the authors use quantum Monte Carlo methods to predict a new route to this state in rare-earth pyrochlore quantum spin ices under an applied (111) magnetic field.

    • Juan Carrasquilla
    • , Zhihao Hao
    •  & Roger G. Melko

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A minimal observable length leading to deformed commutation relations is a common feature of theories that aim to merge quantum physics and gravity. Here, the authors analyse the free evolution of micro- and nano-oscillators to lower the limits on the parameters quantifying commutator deformation.

    • Mateusz Bawaj
    • , Ciro Biancofiore
    •  & Francesco Marin

  • Article |

    Structural patterns such as communities are used to understand the architecture of complex networks, but this is typically obtained for a purely static case. Here the authors introduce a generalized formalism that includes the statistical properties of the event timings.

    • Jean-Charles Delvenne
    • , Renaud Lambiotte
    •  & Luis E. C. Rocha

  • Article |

    Quantum features such as entanglement can be used to improve metrological precision, but noise affects their performances. Here the authors construct schemes for exploiting quantum error correction to preserve the quantum Fisher information, thereby shielding quantum gain efficiently.

    • Xiao-Ming Lu
    • , Sixia Yu
    •  & C. H. Oh

  • Article |

    Recent experiments with plasmonic nanostructures have found phenomena that cannot be explained classically, necessitating new theoretical models. Toscano et al. present a self-consistent hydrodynamic theory that describes both the nonlocal response and the electronic spill-out for noble and simple metals.

    • Giuseppe Toscano
    • , Jakob Straubel
    •  & Martijn Wubs

  • Article |

    In statistical physics, the observable macroscopic behaviour of a system is obtained from a microscopic model of its components. Here, the authors extend this approach to systems with no known microscopic dynamics, by looking at the system’s response to external perturbations.

    • Baruch Barzel
    • , Yang-Yu Liu
    •  & Albert-László Barabási

  • Article |

    Two-dimensional charge ordering cannot be fully described by Peierls-like weak coupling mechanisms appropriate for one-dimensional materials. Here, the authors show how strong orbital-dependent electron–phonon coupling drives two-dimensional charge ordering in archetypal niobium diselenide.

    • Felix Flicker
    •  & Jasper van Wezel

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Although expected to have an influence, the effect of strong laser fields on molecules in high-harmonic generation in gases is rarely explored. Kraus et al.show that the laser modifies the electronic structure of large polyatomic molecules and present a new theoretical framework to model this.

    • P. M. Kraus
    • , O. I. Tolstikhin
    •  & H. J. Wörner

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The work fluctuations of systems driven out of equilibrium are governed by the same large-deviation theory as wavefunction amplitudes close to the Anderson localization transition. Exploiting this analogy, the authors generalize the Jarzynski equality, verifying their relation on a single-electron box.

    • I.M. Khaymovich
    • , J.V. Koski
    •  & J.P. Pekola

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A driven-dissipative system of non-interacting bosons may form multiple condensates—a dynamics described by birth–death processes that also occur in evolutionary game theory. Here, the authors apply game theory to show how the vanishing of relative entropy production governs condensate selection.

    • Johannes Knebel
    • , Markus F. Weber
    •  & Erwin Frey

  • Article |

    A challenging problem is to identify the most central agents in interconnected multilayer networks. Here, De Domenico et al. present a mathematical framework to calculate centrality in such networks—versatility—and rank nodes accordingly.

    • Manlio De Domenico
    • , Albert Solé-Ribalta
    •  & Alex Arenas

  • Article |

    Quantum repeaters have been conceived as a means to extend the range of quantum secure communications, but can handle only distillable entangled states. Here, the authors introduce and study quantum key repeaters, devices which may allow long-distance quantum key distribution with non-distillable states.

    • Stefan Bäuml
    • , Matthias Christandl
    •  & Andreas Winter

  • Article |

    Multilayer networks have been used to capture the structure of complex systems with different types of interactions, but often contain redundant information. Here, De Domenico et al. present a method based on quantum information, to identify the minimal configuration of layers to retain.

    • Manlio De Domenico
    • , Vincenzo Nicosia
    •  & Vito Latora

  • Article |

    Nucleation is the fundamental relaxation mechanism that leads to the emergence of a new phase or structure via first-order phase transitions. Here, the authors study nucleation and growth of two-dimensional phases on curved surfaces, and show how the curvature influences its inhomogeneity and speed.

    • Leopoldo R. Gómez
    • , Nicolás A. García
    •  & Daniel A. Vega

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The transmission of light through opaque media is a complex process, owing to the many scattering processes of light. Here, the authors develop a method to determine the transmission eigenchannels through an opaque medium as a solution of diffusion equations.

    • Matthieu Davy
    • , Zhou Shi
    •  & Azriel Z. Genack

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Quantum repeaters are needed for long-distance quantum communication but it is thought that they require matter quantum memories. Azuma et al. introduce an all-photonic quantum repeater based on flying qubits that scales polynomially with the channel distance without the need for matter quantum memories.

    • Koji Azuma
    • , Kiyoshi Tamaki
    •  & Hoi-Kwong Lo

  • Article |

    The spins in quantum magnets couple to each other through an exchange interaction. Here, the authors show that a weak coupling between neighbouring spins called the Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction can give rise to topological behaviour in the archetypal quantum magnet strontium copper borate.

    • Judit Romhányi
    • , Karlo Penc
    •  & R. Ganesh

  • Article |

    Heat transfer typically occurs by conduction via phonons and radiation via photons, but the distinction between them blurs as surfaces come into contact. Chiloyan et al.study heat transfer between surfaces at sub-nanometre separation and explore the behaviour of phonons as the surfaces approach each other.

    • Vazrik Chiloyan
    • , Jivtesh Garg
    •  & Gang Chen

  • Article |

    The transmission of quantum information through channels is a fundamental step for future quantum communication technologies. Cubitt et al.now show that there exist channels whose potential for transmitting quantum information requires an unbounded number of usages to be detected.

    • Toby Cubitt
    • , David Elkouss
    •  & Sergii Strelchuk

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Electronic interactions underlie the exchange interaction responsible for the magnetic ordering and dynamics of magnetic materials. Here, Mentink et al. theoretically demonstrate the ultrafast and reversible tuning of the exchange interaction in Mott insulators driven by a time-periodic electric field.

    • J. H. Mentink
    • , K. Balzer
    •  & M. Eckstein

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Machine learning systems use algorithms that can interpret data to make improved decisions. Hermans et al. develop a physical scheme for a computing system based on recurrent neural networks that physically implements the error backpropagation algorithm, thus performing its own training process.

    • Michiel Hermans
    • , Michaël Burm
    •  & Peter Bienstman

  • Article |

    Topological insulators are insulators in the bulk, but can support conducting states on their surface. Here, Chen et al. predict orthorhombic perovskite iridates to be topological crystalline metals, exhibiting bulk metallic behaviour and surface states protected by certain crystal symmetries.

    • Yige Chen
    • , Yuan-Ming Lu
    •  & Hae-Young Kee

  • Article
    | Open Access

    To overcome losses and thermalization, a quantum system requires strong interactions. Following recent experiments, Mackillo Kira shows that a BEC swept fast enough from weak to strong interactions exhibits coherent quantum-depletion dynamics dominated by particle clusters, resembling semiconductor excitations.

    • M. Kira

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The statistical nature of standard thermodynamics provides an incomplete picture for individual processes at the nanoscale, and new relations have been developed to extend it. Here, the authors show that by quantifying time-asymmetry it is also possible to characterize how quantum coherence is modified in such processes.

    • Matteo Lostaglio
    • , David Jennings
    •  & Terry Rudolph

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The observation of the quantum spin Hall effect in graphene is hindered by weak spin–orbit coupling. Here, Beugeling et al. demonstrate how topological phases may be realized in analogous artificial HgTe nanocrystal honeycomb lattices with strong spin–orbit coupling and multi-orbital ordering.

    • W. Beugeling
    • , E. Kalesaki
    •  & C. Morais Smith

  • Article |

    Physical theories can be classified by the strength of the correlations that they allow to be generated between systems. Here, the authors introduce the set of almost quantum correlations that, despite being larger than strict quantum correlations, do not lead to operational contradictions.

    • Miguel Navascués
    • , Yelena Guryanova
    •  & Antonio Acín

  • Article |

    Understanding and controlling the electronic band gap of a material is vital for many electronic and optoelectronic applications. Towards this aim, this study shows how huge band gap variations can arise by manipulating the electrostatic interactions via cation ordering in correlated oxide materials.

    • Prasanna V. Balachandran
    •  & James M. Rondinelli

  • Article |

    A theoretical description of hydrodynamic interaction between particles is challenging due to its long-rang nature and many-body effect. Here, the authors numerically show rich phase ordering caused by the hydrodynamic interaction in a model system of rotating disks immersed in a two-dimensional fluid.

    • Yusuke Goto
    •  & Hajime Tanaka

  • Article |

    How living cells move around is crucial for the understanding of their biological functions. Here, Tjhung et al. reproduce cellular motility via a minimal physical model, whereby a cell in three-dimensions is represented as a droplet of active polar fluid constrained by interfacial tension.

    • E. Tjhung
    • , A. Tiribocchi
    •  & M. E. Cates

  • Article |

    The availability of pervasive data has opened up possibilities for quantitative approaches to many phenomena, but extracting useful information from huge datasets is difficult. Here, Louail et al. propose a method to extract a coarse-grained signature of large weighted networks and apply it to mobility networks.

    • Thomas Louail
    • , Maxime Lenormand
    •  & Marc Barthelemy

  • Article |

    How do fluctuations alter the dynamics of phase transitions in crystal near a mechanical instability? To answer this question, here Mao et al. present a square lattice-based analytic model showing that large entropic effects can take place at nonzero temperature near the transition.

    • Xiaoming Mao
    • , Anton Souslov
    •  & T. C. Lubensky

  • Article |

    Replica symmetry breaking, in which identical systems subject to identical conditions evolve to different end states, has been predicted to occur in many contexts but has yet to be observed experimentally. Ghofraniha et al.report evidence for its occurrence in the pulse-to-pulse variations of a random laser.

    • N. Ghofraniha
    • , I. Viola
    •  & C. Conti

  • Article |

    Quantum steering is a form of quantum non-locality that can be verified for arbitrarily low detection efficiencies and high losses at the price of requiring complete trust in one of the parties. Here, Kocsis et al. present measurement-device-independent steering protocols that remove this need for trust.

    • Sacha Kocsis
    • , Michael J. W. Hall
    •  & Geoff J. Pryde

  • Article |

    Empirical data can contain information about causation rather than mere correlation. Here Chaves et al. present an algorithm for computing constraints on the correlations arising from a given quantum causal structure, and apply this framework to the information causality principle and networked architectures.

    • Rafael Chaves
    • , Christian Majenz
    •  & David Gross

  • Article |

    A long-standing debate on the foundation of quantum mechanics is whether wave–particle duality and the uncertainty principle are equivalent. Here Coles et al. show that the wave–particle duality relation corresponds to a formulation of the uncertainty principle in terms of min- and max-entropies.

    • Patrick J. Coles
    • , Jedrzej Kaniewski
    •  & Stephanie Wehner

Browse broader subjects

Browse Theoretical physics across other nature.com journals