Browse Physics

Elbio Dagotto, Physics 2, 12 (2009) – Published February 9, 2009

Nanophysics

Researchers bring the prospect of new electronic devices based on oxide materials closer to reality by doping interfaces via polar discontinuities rather than chemical substitution.

Eric Braaten, Physics 2, 9 (2009) – Published February 2, 2009

Atomic & Molecular Physics Superfluidity

Recent calculations of the properties of ultracold atoms have revealed how two-body interactions at very short distances determine essential properties of many-body systems.

Simon Swordy, Physics 2, 10 (2009) – Published February 2, 2009

Astrophysics Particles & Fields Cosmology

Many cosmologists believe that antiprotons in cosmic rays come from the annihilation of dark matter. Data from the PAMELA experiment on board a Russian satellite provide an important test of this possibility.

Irina Novikova, Physics 2, 7 (2009) – Published January 26, 2009

Optics

The blurring effects of diffraction pose an obstacle to transmitting an image with all-optical technology. A method to reduce diffraction that takes advantage of the thermal motion of atoms could prove a way to keep images sharp.

Jirka Hlinka, Physics 2, 8 (2009) – Published January 26, 2009

Nanophysics

Scientists have found that the spontaneous ferroelectric polarization can be fully and reversibly flipped by varying partial oxygen pressure above the surface of an epitaxially compressed PbTiO₃ film. The inward polarized state is stabilized by ordered oxygen vacancies in the topmost atomic layer.

Dam T. Son, Physics 2, 5 (2009) – Published January 20, 2009

Particles & Fields Nuclear Physics

The critical point is one of the main features of the phase diagram of strongly interacting quark-gluon matter. Finding this critical point in the lab will require luck and an understanding of the possible experimental signatures.

Piers Coleman, Physics 2, 6 (2009) – Published January 20, 2009

Spintronics

The presence of iron in gold has long been known to lead to an increase in gold’s low-temperature resistivity. Theorists argue that this “Kondo effect” may have implications for spintronics as well.

Martin Wegener, Stefan Linden, Physics 2, 3 (2009) – Published January 12, 2009

Optics

Metamaterials can be designed to rotate light as it passes through them. If the effect is strong enough, it can lead to the material having a negative index of refraction and light bouncing around very differently than expected.

François Peeters, Physics 2, 4 (2009) – Published January 12, 2009

Mesoscopics

Crystalline structures have been observed in nanoislands of electrons floating above superfluid helium. The energy required to add or subtract an electron from these quantum-dot-like islands agrees well with theory.

Gil Refael, Physics 2, 1 (2009) – Published January 5, 2009

Quantum Mechanics

The presence of disorder in a quantum many-body system may appear to make an already difficult problem nearly impossible to solve. However, scientists show that the details of the disorder often do not matter, allowing them to describe realistic systems from magnets to superconductors.

Karl van Bibber, Physics 2, 2 (2009) – Published January 5, 2009

Astrophysics Particles & Fields Cosmology

New upper limits on the spin-independent interaction of WIMPs and nucleons marks the latest volley in the worldwide effort to detect and identify particle dark matter.

Stuart D. Bale, Physics 1, 42 (2008) – Published December 22, 2008

Astrophysics Plasma Physics

New satellite measurements may help solve the puzzle of how the sun’s energy heats the corona and solar wind.

Charles Gould, Laurens W. Molenkamp, Physics 1, 43 (2008) – Published December 22, 2008

Spintronics

In the design of spintronic devices, magnetic semiconductors have the potential to be an “all in one material,” but they are usually ferromagnetic only at low temperatures. However, by growing an iron layer on top of a magnetic semiconductor it is possible to induce room-temperature ferromagnetism in a thin layer near the interface.

Mark Sadgrove, Physics 1, 41 (2008) – Published December 15, 2008

Atomic & Molecular Physics

Disorder in a crystal tends to localize electrons and drive a transition from a metallic to an insulating state. The same localization can occur in cold atom gasses in a periodic optical trap, but since the trap is tunable it may be possible to explore this effect in multiple dimensions.

Alexandre Blais, Jay M. Gambetta, Physics 1, 39 (2008) – Published December 8, 2008

Quantum Information Optics

Preparing a harmonic oscillator in a state with a well-defined energy is a tricky business. With the new tools provided by cavity and circuit quantum electrodynamics it is now possible to make these pure quantum states and watch how they evolve in time.

Zohar Nussinov, Physics 1, 40 (2008) – Published December 8, 2008

Superfluidity Quantum Mechanics

A new phase of matter called a superglass may be possible, as shown by an investigation of the quantum mechanical analog of a classical hard sphere glass.

Vitor Cardoso, Physics 1, 38 (2008) – Published December 1, 2008

Fluid Dynamics

From the nucleus to black holes, the model of a spinning liquid drop can describe the physics of a large number of systems. With diamagnetic levitation, it is possible to accurately study the many shapes a rapidly rotating liquid drop can take and compare the results against theoretical predictions.

Marcel Franz, Physics 1, 36 (2008) – Published November 24, 2008

Semiconductor Physics

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.

Karl-Heinz Kampert, Physics 1, 37 (2008) – Published November 24, 2008

Astrophysics

Unusual localized excess fluxes of cosmic rays of unknown origin have been observed at an energy of 10 TeV. Several explanations are being considered, but none are convincing.

Christoph Bruder, Daniel Loss, Physics 1, 34 (2008) – Published November 10, 2008

Quantum Information

Quantum measurements are conventionally thought of as irretrievably “collapsing” a wave function to the observed state. However, experiments with superconducting qubits show that the partial collapse resulting from a weak continuous measurement can be restored.

Jonathan Sun, Physics 1, 33 (2008) – Published November 3, 2008

Nanophysics Spintronics

If a magnet is small enough, an electric current carrying polarized spins can flip it around. Scientists are finding clever ways to control this spin-torque effect precisely, both for when it is wanted and when it is not.

Suckjoon Jun and Nick Rhind, Physics 1, 32 (2008) – Published October 27, 2008

Biological Physics

Genome replication originates at random places along the DNA strand, yet replication of the genetic material finishes within a defined time. A model based on phase-transition kinetics in condensed-matter systems explains how this just-in-time replication can happen.

Todd Squires, Physics 1, 30 (2008) – Published October 20, 2008

Fluid Dynamics Biological Physics

Some of the most ingenious ideas for designing microfluidic systems come from observing plants and animals. A study that quantifies the protein-driven helical flow of liquid in large plant cells, for instance, may well inspire micron-scale liquid mixers and sensors.

Carlos Barceló, Physics 1, 31 (2008) – Published October 20, 2008

Cosmology

The universe we see today is the result of mass-energy fluctuations during the rapid inflationary expansion that followed the big bang. A new approach to analyzing those fluctuations brings theory into better alignment with observational data.

Michelle Johannes, Physics 1, 28 (2008) – Published October 13, 2008

Superconductivity

The discovery of superconductivity in iron-based compounds with a similar, but simpler, structure to the iron-pnictides could provide an important testing ground for unconventional superconductivity.