Browse Physics

Cosmic rays may be used to capture images of damaged reactors at the Fukushima power plant in Japan.

New calculations of core-collapse supernovae show how bizarre nuclear structures—called pasta—develop in the dense core of a dying star.

Frictional forces between surfaces coated with charged polymers can be adjusted with external electric fields.

An improved equation for electrochemical cells accurately captures processes in desalination and generation of electricity from salt gradients in the ocean.

Existing or planned electron accelerators may be able to see the breakdown of general relativity.

A proposed experiment could, over several years of operation, test the suspicion that the three known flavors of neutrinos sometimes transform into other, undetectable types.

Experiments show that normally transparent nanorods can absorb or reflect nearly 100% of light at a specific wavelength when the rods are arranged in a periodic two-dimensional array.

The quantum states of light emitted by quantum dots stand up to the rigors of frequency conversion.

Researchers demonstrate a scheme that allows counting up to 100 atoms in a given quantum state, which may enable high precision measurements with entangled states.

Ultrathin solar cells are cost efficient, but new theoretical tools are needed to understand how light interacts with cells thinner than its wavelength.

New calculations of hypothetical “black hole bombs” set an upper limit on the possible mass of the photon and on the existence of certain dark matter candidates.

Methods from statistical physics and graph theory help uncover the structure of human language.

An ultra-high-speed camera has captured the cooling of surface electrons in topological insulators.

Quantum calculations are a valuable predictive tool for designing better alloys.

New research has identified a rare form of magnetism at the interface between two different oxide compounds.

Cloaking mechanisms, analogous to those in optical metamaterials, can also hide regions that scatter electrons in semiconductors.

A network model reveals optimal configurations for withstanding random failure or targeted attacks.

The mystery of curved folds in origami artwork is partly unraveled by a mathematical modeling of the elastic forces in a folded ring structure.

Optical microscopes can be adapted to measure the mass of individual cells.

A proposed interferometry experiment could detect quantum states, called anyons, which are neither bosons nor fermions.