Browse Physics

Finding the most energetically favorable crystal structure of closed-shell atoms is a long-standing problem where experiment and theory don’t agree, but a study of argon nanoclusters is providing new insight into the discrepancy.

Glitches in the rotation of pulsars cannot be explained by the conventional model of superfluid neutrons beneath the star’s crust.

Light pulses with few optical cycles and defined carrier-envelope phase can induce selective photofragmentation of molecules on the attosecond timescale.

A study reveals the optimal balance of forces needed to make the cleanest cuts in soft solids.

A projectile striking granular material generates a series of acoustic pulses that propagate down from the impact site.

A nanowalker made of DNA moves along biomolecules without chemically altering them.

Photoemission experiments put new constraints on the pairing mechanism in iron-based superconductors.

Quantum Hall effects can be exploited to tune, reverse, and even eliminate the Casimir force between two graphene sheets.

Field patterns produced near nanoparticles could allow closely spaced traps for ultracold atoms.

Measurements of the heat capacity in two-dimensional helium-$3$ adsorbed on graphite provide further evidence of an unexpected liquid state at temperatures near absolute zero.

The demonstration of a single-particle interferometer opens the door to a number of applications, from investigations of gravity to surface impact physics.

Three major drawbacks to the ΛCDM dark matter model of the universe may be ameliorated if a proposed particle couples to dark matter and to neutrinos.

The flexibility of a DNA strand affects its activities in cells and depends on its length. Atomic-scale computer simulations begin to explain why the length matters.

Surface-sensitive spectroscopy reveals the microscopic structure of the water-vapor interface and its dependence on nuclear quantum effects.

A new way of topologically labeling the pasta phases thought to exist in neutron stars could help researchers sort out how the phases contribute to star cooling.

Individual neutral atoms trapped in optical tweezers have been cooled to their quantum ground state, raising hopes that they can be used to process quantum information.

Charged beads floating in a plasma spontaneously form a two-dimensional liquid consisting of small, ordered regions that slide past one another and may mimic the motions in real liquids.

The population of Upsilon mesons in quark-gluon plasma can be used to measure the plasma’s temperature.

An analog of the dynamical Casimir effect has been achieved, where phonons replace photons and thermal fluctuations replace vacuum fluctuations.

In laser metrology, adding additional laser pulses, separated in time from the first, suppresses energy line shifts and allows for even more precision.