Articles in 2019

An experiment using ultrafast light pulses demonstrates how to induce a transient chiral electron state in a trivial semimetal.

A transient topological response in graphene is driven by a short pulse of light. When the Fermi energy is in the predicted band gap the Hall conductance is around two conductance quanta. An ultrafast detection technique enables the measurement.

The ferromagnetism of iron has been known for millennia. Now a rotational form of spontaneous crystallographic ordering has been discovered. This touches upon fundamental questions about the relation between symmetry, structure and order in matter.

The authors use optical spectroscopy to show that RbFe(MoO₄)₂ hosts a ferro-rotational phase. This is the final form of ferroic order to be observed.

Little is known about how edge states in topological materials interact with each other. Here, a quantum spin Hall insulator is used to show that when edge states are brought close together, additional gaps appear in the spectrum.

Scanning tunnelling microscopy and spectroscopy study of the conductive edge state in a two-dimensional topological insulator reveals the interplay of topology and electronic correlations.

A technique analogous to angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy used in materials characterization has been developed for interacting Fermi gases in an optical lattice, providing information on the single-particle excitations in a many-body system.

Using sulfur doping and pressure, the authors separate the nematic and magnetic phase transitions in FeSe. They find that a Lifshitz transition sits between two independent superconducting domes where nematic critical fluctuations remain finite.

Physical forces have a profound influence on bacterial cell function and physiology. The new tools of nanophysics are bringing to light a tight connection between biomolecular mechanisms and mechanical forces in bacterial cell division.

Strongly interacting bosons in an optical lattice exhibit anomalous subdiffusive evolution when subjected to a dissipative process. The experimental observations are attributed to a mechanism termed ‘interaction-impeding of decoherence’.

A platform for probing the mechanics and migratory dynamics of a growing model breast cancer reveals that cells at the invasive edge are faster, softer and larger than those in the core. Eliminating the softer cells delays the transition to invasion.

Atomic force microscopy reveals that the accumulation of mechanical stress works together with enzymatic activity to ensure the rapid cleavage of dividing bacteria.

It is generally difficult to know in advance if a sheet of paper can be folded into an origami shape, but for quadrilateral crease patterns a tiling approach can identify all possible ways of folding them.

In a nanobeam that is strongly coupled to a single-electron transistor, electron tunnelling back-action induces self-sustaining mechanical oscillations. This oscillator can be compared to a phonon laser and can be stabilized.

The crease patterns for origami-based mechanical metamaterials can fold into myriad 3D shapes, but predicting foldability is no simple task. A framework for designing foldable patterns offers a neat alternative to extensive computer optimization.