Volume 19 Issue 1, January 2023

A clever experiment with a photonic circuit has realized three-dimensional non-Abelian quantum behaviour — introducing an experimental testbed for field and gauge theories.

Elasticity-driven synchronization in active solids has been predicted theoretically and was recently realized in a synthetic system. A biological realization is now demonstrated in a bacterial biofilm.

Watching a single protein molecule fold for days reveals rare excursions into configurations that were previously hidden from observation by high energy barriers.

In a burning plasma, fusion-born α particles are the dominant source of heating. In such conditions, the deuterium and tritium ion energy distribution deviates from the expected thermal Maxwellian distribution.

A potential observation of low-energy antihelium-3 nuclei would have profound impacts on our understanding of the Galaxy. Experiments at particle colliders help us understand how cosmic antimatter travels over long distances before reaching Earth.

Numerical simulations and spacecraft observations elucidate how ultralow-frequency waves transmit through collisionless shocks, which could not only advance our understanding of shocks but also have implications for space weather modelling.

Spin ices have magnetic moments arranged on a lattice with many possible ground-state configurations. Quantum effects can ‘melt’ the spin ice into a liquid that fails to form static order even at absolute zero despite strong interactions.

Superconductivity with an anisotropy is revealed in a layered material. This result points towards a version of superconductivity where spin–orbit interactions produce a material that is resilient to external magnetic fields.

The performance of computing devices is determined by the implementation of logical operations at the hardware level. A quantum AND gate designed using three energy levels of a superconducting circuit may speed up quantum computing algorithms.

Epithelial tissues cover our organs and play an important role as physical barriers. The conditions leading to spontaneous hole formation in monolayer epithelia, which challenge epithelial integrity, have now been revealed.

Interspecies comparisons between atomic optical clocks are important for several technological applications. A recently proposed spectroscopy technique extends the interrogation times of clocks, leading to highly stable comparison between species.

Photonic waveguides with appropriately engineered interactions allow the experimental realization of non-Abelian quantum holonomies of the symmetry group U(3), which is known from the strong nuclear force.

The notion of chirality in dynamical systems with broken spatial symmetry but preserved time inversion symmetry has led to the concept of truly chiral phonons. These have now been observed in bulk HgS using circularly polarized Raman spectroscopy.

The Luttinger liquid is a theoretical concept used to describe interacting fermions in a 1D system. Now it is shown that the model also describes electron physics in η-Mo₄O₁₁, a quasi-2D material in which 1D chains cross each other.

A continuum active solid system is realized in a bacterial biofilm. Self-sustained elastic waves are observed, and two modes of collective motion with a sharp transition between them are identified.

Single-molecule magnetic tweezers enable probing the folding dynamics of a single talin protein for long periods of time. This allows the observation of previously inaccessible rare and kinetically trapped conformations.

Measurements of the inelastic cross section of anti-³He allow the estimation of the transparency of the Milky Way to the propagation of these light antinuclei produced in either cosmic-ray collisions or annihilation of dark-matter particles.

Inertial confinement fusion experiments reveal a departure from the expected hydrodynamic behaviour of a plasma when the fusion reactions become the primary source of plasma heating.

The Earth’s bow shock results from the interaction of the solar wind with the terrestrial magnetic field. With global numerical simulations and spacecraft observations, the transmission of fast magnetosonic waves through the bow shock is revealed.

Hexagonal boron nitride is a common component of 2D heterostructures. Defects implanted in boron nitride crystals can be used to perform spatially resolved sensing of properties, including temperature, magnetism and current.

At low temperatures, the orbital degrees of freedom in insulating magnets normally do not fluctuate, leaving only magnetic behaviour. Measurements now suggest that in Pr₂Zr₂O₇, it is possible to reach a quantum regime of coupled spin–orbital dynamics.

Various features of the behaviour in the cuprates near where the pseudogap collapses are caused by quantum fluctuations. Now, neutron scattering experiments suggest that very-low-energy collective spin excitations are the cause.

A form of superconductivity where strong spin–orbit coupling combines with topological band inversions to produce strong robustness against magnetic fields is shown in a few-layer transition metal dichalcogenide.

The transition from a glassy to a liquid phase is normally assumed to take place cooperatively across the whole material. But now, experiments show that, under certain conditions, isolated regions of liquid can form in the glassy matrix first.

Many-body quantum systems that escape thermalization are promising candidates for quantum information applications. A weak-ergodicity-breaking mechanism—quantum scarring—has now been observed with superconducting qubits in unconstrained models.

To run algorithms on a computer they are broken down into logical operations that are implemented in hardware. A quantum logical AND gate has now been demonstrated, which could substantially improve the efficiency of near-term quantum computers.

On soft substrates, epithelial tissues are under high tension and form holes that spontaneously heal. Thus, mechanical stress directly impacts the integrity of epithelia.

The SI prefixes provide an essential mechanism for the effective communication of scientific information. Richard Brown and Martin Milton inform us about the latest developments.