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Cells rely on their proteins being positioned correctly for processes such as cell division and migration. A model based on Turing patterns provides an active mechanism for establishing this precise control in bacteria.
Triggering and sustaining fusion reactions — with the goal of overall energy production — in a tokamak plasma requires efficient heating. Radio-frequency heating of a three-ion plasma is now experimentally shown to be a potentially viable technique.
A careful study of the low-valent, quasi-two-dimensional trilayer metallic nickelate Pr4Ni3O8 is presented, revealing this system to be a close analogue of cuprate systems, and offering tantalizing hope that it may superconduct if appropriate electron doping can be achieved.
The proteins that adhere cells together in tissue assemble in domains near the cell–cell interface. Experiments, simulations and theory show that formation of these domains is regulated by the membrane itself — with an explicit role for fluctuations.
The ability to transfer quantum information from a memory to a flying qubit is important for building quantum networks. The very fast release of a multiphoton state in a microwave cavity memory into propagating modes is demonstrated.
Andreev bound states in semiconductor–superconductor hybrid structures are studied using microwave spectroscopy — a tool that could be also used for investigating Majorana modes.
Exciton–polariton condensates have garnered interest as a means to access macroscopic displays of quantum phenomena such as Bose–Einstein condensation and superfluidity. In this work, a direct measure of the polariton–polariton interaction is obtained.
The injection, transport and manipulation of spins using electric fields in ultrathin films of black phosphorus show the potential of this material as a platform for two-dimensional semiconductor spintronics devices.
Hybrid perovskites are known to have excellent optoelectronic properties, but the observation of exciton states with long spin lifetimes suggests that they may also have potential spintronics applications.
When a glass transforms into a liquid, is the absorbed specific heat vibrational or configurational in origin? Vibrational spectroscopy experiments on strong and fragile metallic glasses now strongly suggest the latter.
Characterizing the correlations of quantum many-body systems is known to be hard, but there are ways around: for example, a new method for measuring out-of-time correlations demonstrated in a Penning trap quantum simulator with over 100 ions.
Quantum metrology can enhance gravitational-wave detection through the use of squeezed states. A new proposal now suggests that with EPR entanglement one can do even better, reaching sensitivities beyond the standard quantum limit.
A microwave cavity optomechanics experiment investigates the interplay between the electromagnetic and mechanical modes and how their roles can be reversed in engineered dissipation.
The electron dynamics of single-layer Bi2Sr2−xLaxCuO6+δ is studied as a function of doping, revealing the evolution of charge-transfer excitations from incoherent and localized (as in a Mott insulator) to coherent and delocalized (as in a conventional metal).
The normal state of the ruthenate Sr2RuO4 is not that of a conventional metal but one with enhanced correlation effects, which may help to elucidate the origin of the unconventional superconductivity observed in this material.
Nanoscale ferroelectricity is hard to characterize. Studies of BaTiO3 thin films now reveal a close coupling between the ferroelectric and the surface electrochemical states — a notion important for future applications of ferroelectric nanomaterials.
Axions are hypothetical light particles that could explain the dark matter. They could be produced in the interior of the Sun and the CERN Axion Solar Telescope sets the best limit on how strongly axions can interact with light.
Can short-range repulsion alone bring a system into the ferromagnetic phase? The question is explored by investigating the spin dynamics in a resonantly interacting ultracold Fermi gas, and a Stoner-like ferromagnetic instability is observed.
Products from ultracold atom–dimer exothermic reactions can be directly observed by controlling the energy released during the process, bringing the study of chemical dynamics to the quantum level.
A family of topologically protected Kondo insulators, termed Möbius Kondo insulators, is predicted. A re-analysis of archival resistivity measurements of Ce3Bi4Pt3 and CeNiSn suggests they may be good candidate members of this class.