Browse Physics

Colliding matter waves from a Bose-Einstein condensate violate a relation called the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality, proving that such interactions must be considered quantum mechanically.

A new resonant emission component from solitons that had been ignored has now been identified and studied.

An optomechanical system in which light and matter exchange roles promises new kinds of quantum states.

A random laser formed from shaken grains can be partially manipulated by varying the amount of shaking, according to new experiments.

Shifts in atomic energy levels caused by electron interaction with virtual photons can also occur in an ensemble of atoms acting cooperatively.

The sloshing of light between optical waveguides replicates the quantum-mechanical exchange between an atom and an electromagnetic mode.

A new method of imaging with second harmonic light allows more general studies of molecules with different orientations.

The next generation of ultrahigh energy lasers will be able to produce extremely dense electron-positron plasmas and intense bursts of gamma rays, according to simulations, and both will lead to new types of experiments.

Mathematical solutions to Maxwell’s equations suggest that it is possible for shape-preserving optical beams to bend along a circular path.

A semiconductor chip that generates entangled photon pairs is friendlier to integration with other chip-based quantum components than any previous device.

A waveguide’s dielectric properties could result in an effective gauge field for photons even though they have no charge.

Optically switched magnetic domains are easier to control if the light source is circularly polarized.

An updated proposal for a clock based on the excited states of a nucleus could keep time better than existing clocks that use electronic states.

Light passing through a pair of adjacent glass strips generates a slight bending in the material, causing the light to concentrate into narrow tracks. The technique works for all wavelengths of light.

Experiments demonstrate a semiconductor device that emits more power as light than it takes in electrically.

A sheet of tiny structures, such as nanoscale graphene disks, can absorb all incident light of a specific wavelength coming from any direction, theory suggests.

Quantum interference of pairs of photons emitted by nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond paves the way for entanglement of distant qubits.

Advances in a magneto-optical technique will allow researchers to better understand how to control spins in a metal with short optical pulses.

New theoretical tools could take spintronic lasers to the next phase of their evolution.

By tracking the tiny displacements of a nanoparticle trapped in an optical tweezer, scientists are able to detect the faintest of acoustic waves.