Browse Physics

A new generation of electron microscopes that correct for spherical aberration may be able to chart the positions of individual atoms as they diffuse through a crystal.

By exploiting the concept of particle-hole duality, one can realize a point junction between integer and fractional quantum Hall phases, which constitutes a crucial building block towards possible applications of the quantum Hall effect.

The fractional quantum Hall effect, thought to be special to two dimensions, may also flourish in three, providing a possible explanation for anomalies observed in certain 3D materials in high magnetic fields.

A quantum dot refrigerator that cools an electron gas close to $100\text{mK}$ may allow experimentalists to better probe electron-electron interactions in quantum confined systems.

Measurements of the heat transport at the edges of two-dimensional electron systems appear to provide explanations about the quantum Hall state that have not been forthcoming via charge transport experiments.

The esoteric concept of “axions” was born thirty years ago to describe the strong interaction between quarks. It appears that the same physics—though in a much different context—applies to an unusual class of insulators.

Electrons in graphene can be described by the relativistic Dirac equation for massless fermions and exhibit a host of unusual properties. The surfaces of certain band insulators—called topological insulators—can be described in a similar way, leading to an exotic metallic surface on an otherwise “ordinary” insulator.