Browse Physics

When electronic instabilities give rise to three coexisting density waves, interference between them may lock into a state with helicity.

Cold atoms in optical cavities can undergo a transition to a liquid-crystalline state in which the positions of the atoms are determined by the photon field.

Direct measurements show that the fluid flow around swimming microorganisms is more complex than previously thought, with important implications for how they interact and behave.

Networks of photonic devices with broken time-reversal symmetry may provide a way to create a quantum simulator to study strongly correlated systems.

Although theoretical approaches to modeling “strange metals,” such as the cuprate superconductors, originate from apparently different sources, research now suggests they flow toward a single universal model.

The ability to detect the spin Hall effect electrically could make an obscure but intriguing effect more accessible to research.

A novel laser ionization technique allows better control and investigation of trapped molecular ions.

Ensembles of dilute spin impurities in condensed matter systems can be accessed using microelectronic circuits and therefore may offer a way for long-term storage and enhanced processing of quantum information.

Hysteresis loop measurements in technologically important magnetic materials have revealed striking deviations from some fundamental and widely accepted concepts in the physics of ferromagnetism.

Results from the first three weeks of running the XENON100 experiment show its promise as a sensitive detector of particle dark matter in the form of WIMPs.

Transmission of light through an atomic vapor offers a way of replacing a conventional compass with an all-optical device.

New simulations show that a high concentration of molecules can significantly increase the rate of reaction between two molecules, but does the setup reflect realities of biochemical reactions inside cells?

Theoretical analysis now explains how whispering-gallery-mode resonators can be used to effectively generate broad optical frequency combs.

New experiments resolve differences in measuring the viscosity of liquids confined to thin films at the molecular level.

Calculating the properties of three trapped atoms suffices to explain the behavior of an entire fermionic gas.

Experiments show that it may be possible to achieve control of magnetization by an external electric field in a material by altering the balance between competing physical processes.

Theorists and experimentalists have long been trying to explain the existence of a fractional quantum Hall effect where it is not expected.

Searches for new sources of CP violation are a staple of high-energy physics; a recent result presents an effect that could be a sign of new physics beyond the standard model.

New theoretical work shows that in two-dimensional condensed matter systems, one-dimensional processes such as forward or backward scattering have a dramatic effect on the physical behavior of fermions near a quantum critical point and derail attempts to get an accurate description of a non-Fermi-liquid.

An alternative to a needle for penetrating cells may be found in the precise and forceful fluid jet created by two bubbles expanding and collapsing in tandem.