Browse Physics

Published November 10, 2008

Nanophysics

The rotation of individual large molecules adsorbed onto a gold surface has been observed with a scanning tunneling microscope.

Published November 10, 2008

Plasma Physics

The same instability that is observed in hot plasmas, such as those created in spacecraft ion thrusters, is also found in an ultracold xenon plasma.

Published November 6, 2008

Optics Quantum Mechanics

The optical equivalent of electron oscillations in periodic lattices has now been described by a fully quantum mechanical theory.

Published November 3, 2008

Graphene Mesoscopics

Experiments suggest that one-dimensional behavior is reflected in the transport properties of graphene nanoribbons.

Published November 3, 2008

Cosmology

At the current time, we cannot tell if Einstein’s cosmological constant—or some other theory—is the correct description for dark energy in the Universe. A proposed measure based on existing data may help us to better distinguish these ideas.

Published October 30, 2008

Atomic & Molecular Physics Optics

Successive and rapid measurements of a quantum system can prevent it from evolving in time. This quantum Zeno effect has now been demonstrated for light inside a cavity.

Published October 27, 2008

Particles & Fields

Researchers propose that the supersymmetric partners of the top and bottom quarks are spin 1 instead of spin 0.

Published October 27, 2008

Quantum Mechanics

When two bulk objects are separated by a sufficiently small distance, quantum fluctuations in the electromagnetic field give rise to Casimir forces between them. Two papers explore how these forces are affected by the electrical properties of the materials.

Published October 20, 2008

Superconductivity

After the discovery of superconductivity in doped sodium cobaltate, numerous measurements contributed to mapping out the various magnetic and electronic phases that occur in this material. Now, the report of a new phase diagram may challenge the previous version.

Published October 6, 2008

Interdisciplinary Physics Statistical Mechanics

How the structural organization of a network evolves as it is observed on larger and larger scales remains an open question. Now, a general and systematic approach to answer this question may be in sight.

Published October 6, 2008

Magnetism Spintronics

From conservation laws to selection rules, symmetry arguments have long been revered for their far-reaching consequences in physics. Now they point to an effective spin-orbit coupling in antiferromagnetic conductors.

Published October 6, 2008

Optics

Spatial maps of the photon energy emitted by plasmons on a metal surface reveal standing wave patterns caused by electron confinement.

Published September 29, 2008

Nuclear Physics

Various models in nuclear physics can be used to fit the masses of known nuclei, but the predictions tend to be inconsistent for masses that have not been measured. A thorough study examines this problem and provides a route to quantify these errors.

Published September 29, 2008

Optics

Coupled semiconductor lasers can be used to generate controllable soliton emission patterns.

Published September 29, 2008

Soft Matter

High-intensity x-ray measurements show how suspended particles in a narrow channel are attracted to—or repelled from—the channel walls depending on the ionic concentration of the suspension. These results could have implications for the design of nanofluidic devices.

Published September 22, 2008

Spintronics

The efficient injection of polarized spins from magnetic materials into semiconductors, a prerequisite for spintronics applications, is a formidable challenge. With ferromagnetic Co₂FeSi it is now possible to achieve a spin injection efficiency of close to 50%.

Published September 22, 2008

Magnetism Optics

Researchers in Japan have identified spin excitations in multiferroics that can be driven by electric fields.

Published September 22, 2008

Atomic & Molecular Physics

Tuning the interactions between ultracold atoms leads to a strongly interacting superfluid with properties more akin to liquid helium than a dilute Bose-Einstein condensate.

Published September 15, 2008

Interdisciplinary Physics

Calculus, group theory, and other mathematical tools are indispensable for understanding physics. Now the tables may be turned in a new approach toward solving a long-standing problem in mathematics.

Published September 15, 2008

Magnetism

Scientists in Japan have discovered a material with magnetically switchable optical dichroism that is four orders of magnitude larger than what has been seen before.

Published September 9, 2008

Atomic & Molecular Physics

Atoms subjected to strong optical fields exhibit splitting of energy levels. The same effect has now been observed when an atom moves through the periodic field of a crystal lattice.

Published September 9, 2008

Nonlinear Dynamics

Shock waves, familiar from hydrodynamics, acoustics, and optics, have been observed in the changing charge state of iron defects in lithium niobate crystals upon application of even a modest voltage across the crystal.

Published September 8, 2008

Mesoscopics Semiconductor Physics

A new study is looking at how disorder affects the conducting states in a topological insulator—revealing one of many ways these unusual materials are different from conventional insulators.

Published September 8, 2008

Nonlinear Dynamics

Scientists have developed a unifying theory to describe turbulence in two dimensions that could help explain large-scale flow in the earth’s ocean and atmosphere.

Published September 5, 2008

Graphene Semiconductor Physics

Metallic contacts, which are unavoidable in any connection to an experimental measurement, cause asymmetries in the conductance of electrons and holes in graphene.