Browse Physics

The transmission of light through a disordered medium is described in microscopic detail by a high-dimensional matrix. Researchers have now measured this transmission matrix directly, providing a new approach to control light propagation.

Researchers have constructed a new high accuracy optical clock based on quantum spectroscopy of an aluminum ion.

Researchers demonstrate a new type of nonlinear diffraction with no linear analog.

Two groups have made progress in building laserlike devices that emit phonons rather than photons.

A three-photon process provides a new route toward exciting surface plasmon polaritons on a flat metal surface.

In the generation of attosecond pulse trains, the polarization state of the driving pulse acts as a tunable gate.

Coupled atom cavities can emulate the many-body behavior of condensed matter systems.

Improved optical techniques may permit direct cooling of molecules to form ultracold gases, instead of cooling the atoms first.

Scientists and novelists have been intrigued for centuries by the possibility of hiding an object so completely that neither trace of the object nor of its cloak is to be found. Recent theoretical developments show that cloaking is, in principle, possible for electromagnetic waves and to a limited extent for other types of wave, such as acoustic waves. An energetic program of experimental research has shown some of the schemes to be realizable in practice.

Researchers propose a noninvasive, nondestructive way to image structures inside cells and other small samples using visible light.

Čerenkov radiation with the emission cone reversed has been observed in a metamaterial with negative refractive index.

An advance in attosecond pulse generation will make it easier to produce a single pulse.

How freak or rogue waves form in the ocean is not well understood, but new investigations suggest a mechanism for these waves that may also allow formation of high-intensity pulses in optical fibers.

A new approach to reduce spherical and chromatic aberration in electron microscopy allows for low-energy imaging of single-layer boron nitride, a novel 2D nanostructure that is analogous to graphene.

A “statistical” theory shows how a photonic structure could insulate a warm object more effectively than the pure vacuum of a thermos.

An entangled state of six photons could potentially carry quantum information over large distances and between different reference frames.

Researchers detected the recoil motion of a bead when fluorescent molecules on its surface began emitting photons.

Ultrafast optical probing of an ionized molecule with different pulse durations reveals details of the dynamics of vibrational excitations.

The demonstration of photon emission as free-electrons pass through a nanoscale grating could pave the way for a new generation of on-chip tunable light sources.

A full quantum mechanical description of how light interacts with matter in higher-harmonic generation may lead to better control over the production of isolated and sequential attosecond ultraviolet pulses.