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Quantum communication relies on the ability to entangle quantum states. Experiments now show that this is possible in a bulk material, with unpaired spins at the ends of antiferromagnetic spin chains entangled over long distances.
Understanding the motion of magnetic skyrmions is essential if they are to be used as information carriers in devices. It is now shown that topological confinement endows the skyrmions with an unexpectedly large mass, which plays a key role in their dynamics.
Whether the wavefunction corresponds to reality or represents our limited knowledge of a quantum system is still under debate. A photonic experiment provides evidence for the former.
Photonic-crystal waveguides can control light propagation on subwavelength scales, but structural disorder typically causes scattering and broadening. It is now shown that disorder can enhance light collimation beyond conventional limits.
Charge carriers in transition metal dichalcogenides have an extra degree of freedom known as valley pseudospin, which is associated with the shape of the energy bands. Experiments show that this pseudospin can be manipulated using magnetic fields.
By exploiting the interaction between light and phonons in a silica microsphere resonator it is possible to generate Brillouin scattering induced transparency, which is akin to electromagnetically induced transparency but for acoustic waves.
Charge carriers in transition metal dichalcogenides have an extra degree of freedom known as valley pseudospin, which is associated with the shape of the energy bands. Experiments show that this pseudospin can be manipulated using magnetic fields.
The Higgs mechanism is best known for generating mass for subatomic particles. Less well-known is that the idea originated in the study of superconductivity, and can be tested in the laboratory.
Mechanical metamaterials are artificial structures whose properties originate from their geometry. In such structures, it is now shown that topological modes can exist that are robust against a range of structural deformations.
A single-particle model is usually used to interpret the tunnelling spectra of molecules on surfaces, but scanning tunnelling microscopy now shows that many-body effects can occur in a single molecule.
Astrophysical processes are often driven by collisionless plasma shock waves. The Weibel instability, a possible mechanism for developing such shocks, has now been generated in a laboratory set-up with laser-generated plasmas.
The relaxation processes of light-emitting excited ions are tunable, but electrical control is challenging. It is now shown that graphene can be used to manipulate the optical emission and relaxation of erbium near-infrared emitters electrically.
To gain insight into the properties of quantum matter, a superatom—an ensemble of strongly interacting atoms in the Rydberg blockade regime—is created and characterized by precisely controlling the density and Rydberg excitations.
The quantum mechanical concept of ‘steering’ refers to the feasibility of one system to nonlocally affect, or steer, another system’s states through local measurements. Multipartite steering is now demonstrated in a programmable optical network.
By engineering the electron wavefunction it is possible to create Aharonov–Bohm-like phases and relativistic effects such as length contraction and time dilation in a non-relativistic setting and in the absence of electromagnetic fields.