Browse Physics

Haye Hinrichsen, Physics 2, 96 (2009) – Published November 16, 2009

Statistical Mechanics Soft Matter

Directed percolation, a class of nonequilibrium phase transitions as prominent as the Ising model in equilibrium statistical mechanics, is realized experimentally for the first time, after more than fifty years of research.


Sergei Maslov, Physics 2, 97 (2009) – Published November 16, 2009

Statistical Mechanics Interdisciplinary Physics

The popularity of various chess openings follows a power law distribution, but the exponent depends on the depth of the opening sequence.

John Pendry, Physics 2, 95 (2009) – Published November 16, 2009

Optics Metamaterials

Scientists and novelists have been intrigued for centuries by the possibility of hiding an object so completely that neither trace of the object nor of its cloak is to be found. Recent theoretical developments show that cloaking is, in principle, possible for electromagnetic waves and to a limited extent for other types of wave, such as acoustic waves. An energetic program of experimental research has shown some of the schemes to be realizable in practice.

Published November 16, 2009

Magnetism Nanophysics

First-principles calculations explore how magnetic interactions impede the formation of atomically thin wires.

Published November 16, 2009

Quantum Information

Whether two quantum states can be distinguished over time provides a test to characterize noise from the environment.

Published November 11, 2009

Interdisciplinary Physics

An analysis of the citation network leads to an alternative way to quantitatively assess the impact of a scientist’s work.

A. J. Schofield, Physics 2, 93 (2009) – Published November 9, 2009

Magnetism Superconductivity

A theory of novel phase formation near quantum critical points suggests that large fluctuations lead to magnetic analogs of inhomogeneous superconductivity.

Tanya Zelevinsky, Physics 2, 94 (2009) – Published November 9, 2009

Atomic & Molecular Physics

Two separate teams have achieved the long sought after Bose-Einstein condensation of strontium.

Published November 9, 2009

Soft Matter

Below a critical thickness, liquid-crystal films will exhibit molecular ordering similar to that of spins in a helical magnet.

Shuang Zhang, Xiang Zhang, Physics 2, 91 (2009) – Published November 2, 2009

Optics Particles & Fields Metamaterials

Čerenkov radiation with the emission cone reversed has been observed in a metamaterial with negative refractive index.

John R. Kirtley, Francesco Tafuri, Physics 2, 92 (2009) – Published November 2, 2009

Mesoscopics Cosmology

Defects—in the form of vortices in superconductors or “strings” in the fabric of the universe—can reveal the state of a system at the time it was cooled.

Published November 2, 2009

Materials Science

When crystal formation is purely entropy driven, as is the case for superstructures of nanoparticles with hard-sphere interactions, new simulations that can run at finite temperature are needed.

Published November 2, 2009

Optics

An advance in attosecond pulse generation will make it easier to produce a single pulse.

Howard A. Stone, Alison M. Forsyth, Jiandi Wan, Physics 2, 89 (2009) – Published October 26, 2009

Fluid Dynamics Biological Physics

Simulations provide insight into how viscous flow transforms the shapes of red blood cells, which may influence their physiological properties.

Subir Sachdev, Physics 2, 90 (2009) – Published October 26, 2009

Statistical Mechanics Strongly Correlated Materials

A new renormalization group approach that maps lattice problems to tensor networks may hold the key to solving seemingly intractable models of strongly correlated systems in any dimension.

Thomas Schäfer, Physics 2, 88 (2009) – Published October 26, 2009

Atomic & Molecular Physics Particles & Fields Fluid Dynamics

Is there a fundamental lower bound on viscosity? To answer this question, we can look at the coldest and hottest fluids that laboratories are able to produce.

Published October 26, 2009

Atomic & Molecular Physics

The properties of graphene might be studied from another angle by putting ultracold atoms into a hexagonal optical lattice.

Published October 26, 2009

Superconductivity

Microwave-frequency excitation of a superconductor-metal-superconductor junction is used to resolve the dynamic mechanisms behind the temporal response.

Mattias Marklund, Lennart Stenflo, Physics 2, 86 (2009) – Published October 19, 2009

Optics Fluid Dynamics

How freak or rogue waves form in the ocean is not well understood, but new investigations suggest a mechanism for these waves that may also allow formation of high-intensity pulses in optical fibers.

Marco Polini, Giovanni Vignale, Physics 2, 87 (2009) – Published October 19, 2009

Atomic & Molecular Physics

Interactions among noncondensed bosonic atoms in a trap can cause one species of atoms accelerated by a magnetic field to drag along another species of atoms that would normally not interact with the field.

Published October 19, 2009

Strongly Correlated Materials

An alternative approach in density-functional theory addresses the effects of strong correlations in many-particle quantum systems.

Published October 19, 2009

Quantum Information

A quantum algorithm that uses the solution to a set of linear equations provides an exponential speedup by comparison with classical alternatives.

J. O. Sofo, R. D. Diehl, Physics 2, 84 (2009) – Published October 12, 2009

Mesoscopics Graphene

Photoelectron spectroscopy reveals how carbon atoms aggregate to form domelike graphene structures on iridium surfaces.

Robert F. Klie, Physics 2, 85 (2009) – Published October 12, 2009

Optics Nanophysics

A new approach to reduce spherical and chromatic aberration in electron microscopy allows for low-energy imaging of single-layer boron nitride, a novel 2D nanostructure that is analogous to graphene.

Published October 12, 2009

Graphene

Disorder causes an unexpected quantum phase transition in graphene.