Research articles

The addition of transverse forces to an ensemble of colloidal spinners induces the appearance of odd elastic crystals, featuring self-propelled defects that organize the system into a ‘self-kneading’ crystal whorl state.

Cosmic rays flying through superconducting quantum devices create bursts of excitations that destroy qubit coherence. Rapid, spatially resolved measurements of qubit error rates make it possible to observe the evolution of the bursts across a chip.

Accurate measurements of the ohm require high magnetic fields to support the quantum Hall effect. Now, high precision is achieved by using the quantum anomalous Hall effect in a low magnetic field, making the measurement much more accessible.

Although magnons in the quantum Hall regime of graphene have been detected, their thermodynamic properties have not yet been measured. Now, a local probe technique enables the detection of the magnon density and chemical potential.

Topological states that are created from strong electron–electron interactions at half-integer superlattice fillings are observed at zero magnetic field.

Propagating spin waves known as magnons are expected to carry a dipole moment in the quantum Hall regime. Now, this moment has been detected, demonstrating that the degrees of freedom of spin and charge are entangled in quantum Hall magnons.

A search for transient dark matter in the form of domain walls of axion-like particles finds no statistically significant signal. This places constraints on our theoretical understanding of such scenarios.

Stacking and twisting two-dimensional materials has led to the observation of a variety of electronic phenomena. Now, magnetic behaviour that is distinct from anything seen in individual layers is induced by a moiré pattern in double bilayer chromium triiodide.

Information theory sets an upper limit on the ability of bacteria to navigate up chemical gradients. Experiments reveal that cells do so at speeds within a factor of two of the limit, suggesting they are selected to efficiently use information.

High-precision mass measurements of exotic zirconium nuclei are reported, and reveal a double-shell closure for the deformed nucleus ⁸⁰Zr, which is more strongly bound than previously thought.

A search for axion-like dark matter with a quantum sensor that enhances potential signals is reported. This work constrains the parameter space of different interactions between nucleons and axion-like particles and between nucleons and dark photons.

Experiments on cell monolayers on corrugated hydrogels reveal the effects of local curvature on the shape of cells and nuclei. A vertex model lends support to the idea that the modulation of tissue thickness may enable curvature sensing.

Active fluids exhibit properties reminiscent of equilibrium systems when their degrees of freedom are statistically decoupled. A theory for the fluctuating hydrodynamics of these fluids offers a probe of their anomalous transport coefficients.

Form factors encode the structure of nucleons. Measurements from electron–positron annihilation at BESIII reveal an oscillating behaviour of the neutron electromagnetic form factor, and clarify a long-standing photon–nucleon interaction puzzle.

Twisted bilayer graphene hosts flat electronic bands, but their relationship to the observed correlated phases is still debated. Here, it is shown that electron–electron interactions can help to flatten the bands and generate the correlated phases.

Interactions between atoms in a Bose–Einstein condensate cause quantum fluctuations and the creation of additional correlations between pairs of atoms. These effects have now been directly observed, confirming long-standing theoretical predictions.

As tissues grow, a small fraction of cells can give rise to a large fraction of the tissue. A model borrowed from forest fires suggests that this can occur spontaneously in development as a collective property of the cell interaction network.

Scanning tunnelling microscopy provides evidence for topological superconductivity in a naturally occurring transition metal dichalcogenide material.

Current quantum computers do not have error correction, which means noise may prevent them outperforming classical devices in useful tasks. An analysis of quantum optimization shows that current noise levels are too high to produce a quantum advantage.

The cell cortex stiffens during cell division, facilitating the necessary shape changes. Microrheology measurements now reveal that the rest of the cell interior actually softens, in a process that probably involves two key biomolecules trading roles.