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Certain aspects of two-dimensional turbulence are remarkably similar to those found in critical percolation, and show conformal invariance. But there is both less, and more, to this observation than meets the eye.
The coalescence of neutron stars in compact binaries could produce the intense, short flashes of high-energy radiation observed in gamma-ray bursts. Models suggest that dynamical evolution in old dense stellar clusters, rather than galaxies, may form many of these rare systems.
Treating cancer with beams of high-energy protons is just one of the exciting possibilities presented by the advent of laser-based particle accelerators. But how soon will these devices reach the performance levels needed for such applications, and how will these improvements be made?
Depending on the temperature, the flow of current between two reservoirs of superfluid 4He exhibits phase slippage — a mechanism that creates vortices and leads to energy dissipation — or Josephson oscillations when the apertures connecting the reservoirs behave as a weak link.
The role of phonons in conventional superconductivity — first determined by isotope substitution — has been known for over half a century. But identifying the mechanism in unconventional superconductivity is a much more challenging affair.