Browse Physics

A theoretical model finds that atoms can organize themselves into a regularly spaced row when trapped between a pair of nanosized optical fibers.

Laser light scattered from a single atom undergoes large optical phase shifts that may be useful in imaging and quantum information transmission.

The surprisingly complex behavior of three gravitationally attracted bodies includes several previously unknown periodic orbits.

A strongly driven single-ion qubit offers a method for performing spectrum analysis with high resolution.

Contact with the environment usually destroys the delicate operations of a quantum computer, but engineered dissipative processes may allow for a more robust preparation and processing of quantum states.

The excitation spectrum of artificial spin ices can be used to identify defects that behave as magnetic monopoles.

Tiny “ball bearings” could drastically reduce the friction between two liquids sliding past one another.

Calculations suggest that there are ways to drive spasers—the nanoplasmonic counterparts of lasers—by standard electrical currents.

No cause for alarm, but new simulations show that less energy than previously thought is needed to form a black hole in a particle collision.

The efficient functioning of the brain cortex relies on a highly interconnected set of neuronal columns, which includes enough links between the most distant columns.

Headed to the 2013 APS March meeting in Baltimore? Join us Wednesday March 20th for beer, pizza, and what is certain to be an excellent talk by Nobel laureate Bill Phillips.

$D$-mesons are the fourth in a quartet of neutral mesons to be observed oscillating into their antiparticle partners.

Two separate groups demonstrate the temporary storage and subsequent release of photons using very different quantum devices.

Intense light pulses that can precisely sculpt solid materials also generate dazzling rainbow patterns that reveal information about the surface.

A new model shows that the nonuniform heating of ions in the solar wind may be explained by resonant interactions with a particular type of plasma wave.

The use of optical tweezers in a high-pressure experiment allows a more direct measurement of water viscosity in extreme conditions.

Vertical shaking of a liquid-filled container can generate a standing wave pattern of stars and polygons.

A statistical model favors an unexpected mechanism for avoiding duplicated genetic material in certain viruses.

Water dimers have been detected in room-temperature water vapor, a key step toward understanding their effect on solar absorption and chemistry in the atmosphere.

Atom interferometry in free fall demonstrates fundamental quantum physics and a new level of technology readiness for future experiments in space.