Articles in 2020

The native environment of the cell is crowded by DNA, proteins and other biomolecules. Here, the authors show that crowding slows down groups of kinesin motors but has no effect on single motors.

Uncorrected noise prevents quantum computers from running deep algorithms and outperforming classical machines. A method is now reported that allows noisy shallow quantum algorithms to be used to solve classically hard problems.

NMR and ultrasound measurements show that the spin-glass phase exists in a cuprate all the way up to the doping that marks the end of the pseudogap phase. This highlights the possible connection between the pseudogap and Mott physics.

Standard topological invariants commonly used in static systems are not enough to fully capture the topological properties of Floquet systems. In a periodically driven quantum gas, chiral edge modes emerge despite all Chern numbers being equal to zero.

Observations of flying snakes inform the development of a dynamical model of gliding taking undulation into account. This work suggests that aerial undulation has a different function in snakes than in other animals.

Acoustic waves that carry orbital angular momentum are amplified as they pass through an absorbing disk when the rotation rate exceeds the frequency of the incident wave, thus providing an experimental demonstration of Zel’dovich amplification.

An efficient method has been proposed through which the properties of a complex, large-scale quantum system can be predicted without fully characterizing the quantum state.

This paper shows how lattice distortions induced by a laser pulse can create a ferrimagnetic moment in an antiferromagnet. This mechanism gives a magnetic response that is orders of magnitude larger than using mechanical strain.

The structures of stingers of living organisms are surprisingly similar despite their vastly different lengths. Now, stingers are found to obey a unifying mechanistic principle that characterizes the stingers resistance to buckling.

The arrangement of a sequence of stimuli affects how humans perceive information. Here, the authors show experimentally that humans perceive information in a way that depends on the network structure of stimuli.

Fluid flow through airways—necessary to keep lungs healthy and free from particles—occurs thanks to moving cilia. Here the authors show that defects in the arrangement of these cilia can facilitate particle clearance through the lungs.

The nature of the hidden order in URu₂Si₂ is still unknown. Here detailed measurements of the phase diagram of this material produce constraints for theories that aim to describe that phase.

In a surface code consisting of four data and three ancilla qubits, repeated error detection is demonstrated. The lifetime and coherence time of the logical qubit are enhanced over those of any of the constituent qubits when no errors are detected.

In the interaction of ultraintense, short laser pulses with solid targets, the collisionless Weibel instability is observed. For a sufficiently high resistivity of the target, an additional resistive instability appears.

Braneworld cosmologies describe our universe as a four-dimensional membrane embedded in a bulk five-dimensional anti-de Sitter spacetime. In a possible holographic realization, observers on the brane experience cosmology, and gravity is localized.

High entanglement fidelity between neutral atoms is achieved using highly excited Rydberg states. The unique electron structure provided by alkaline-earth atoms makes it a promising platform for various quantum-technology-based applications.

When interfacing a graphene layer with a thin solid emitter, the quantum plasmonic vacuum allows each solid electron to access all unoccupied valence states through the nonlocality of their light-matter interaction, creating ultra-strong coupling alongside mass and bandgap renormalization.

The intrinsic dipole moment of ²²⁸Th is reported, from which the degree of the nucleus’s octupole deformation is estimated, suggesting that ²²⁹Th and ²²⁹Pa may be suitable candidates for the search for a permanent atomic electric dipole moment.

By exploiting the long-lived phonon modes in nanoscale mechanical resonators, a quantum memory that operates around the standard telecom wavelength of 1,550 nm is realized on a silicon platform.

The interface between a quantum Hall state and a superconductor hosts topological modes. Here, interference between two such modes turns an electron into either a hole or an electron depending on the phase difference along the interference path.