Browse Physics

The complete geometry of ${\text{C}}_{60}$ molecules adsorbed on a silver surface has been determined for the first time with low-energy electron diffraction.

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.

Chaotic matter waves formed by perturbing a Bose-Einstein condensate may provide a valuable laboratory setting for understanding many different kinds of quantum-fluid turbulence.

This design of atomic quantum memory tells us when a pulse of light has been successfully stored and then proceeds to retrieve it without significantly affecting its polarization. The exquisite operation provides a new capability for quantum information networks.

An angle-resolved photoemission study suggests that different physics may underlie two major classes of iron-based superconductors.

Are electronic correlations in the new iron-pnictide high-temperature superconductors as strong as in their older cuprate brethren? Yes, say some physicists; no, say others. X-ray experiments deliver the verdict.

Measuring quantum interference of atomic matter waves may help detect experimental signatures of a fundamental theory of physics.

Along with the quark gluon plasma and cold atom gasses, graphene is establishing its place as a perfect liquid.

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.

A theoretical framework to explain how a hole moves through an antiferromagnetically and orbitally ordered lattice could also provide insight into the interplay between these two ordered phases.

A proposal for obtaining optical resolution better than the classical limit by means of spatially entangled quantum states of light opens a new frontier in the fields of quantum optical imaging, metrology, and sensing.

Different molecules with nearly identical absorption spectra can be distinguished with the help of shaped laser pulses and adaptive algorithms.

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.

Materials with unusual optical properties may allow the construction of sensors surrounded by a cloaking shell that makes the detectors undetectable.

The fermionic analog of a solid-state polaron (an electron surrounded by a cloud of phonons) has been created by dropping a spin-down atom into a Fermi sea of spin-up ultracold atoms.

Calculations of the Raman response for iron pnictide superconductors reveal a collective mode that may be crucial to unravel the pairing symmetry.

Dispersive probing of an atomic transition decreases the “dead time” of optical atomic clocks, potentially enabling more stable time reference standards.

New connections have been made between experimental astrophysical signatures and theories that unify the electromagnetic, weak, and strong forces, called grand unified theories.

Small nonequilibrium systems behave quite unexpectedly when in contact with a thermal reservoir. However, all of them—from molecular machines to molecular magnets—are described by a single fluctuation theorem.

With a high-energy electron beam, it is possible to carve out atomically thin strands of carbon. Whether these carbon structures are conducting remains an open question.