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Single carbon vacancies in graphene can host a positive charge that is tunable. When this charge is large enough such vacancies resemble artificial atoms, with an induced sequence of quasi-bound states that trap nearby electrons.
In analogy to fluids, electric currents can exhibit viscosity — albeit with effects difficult to observe experimentally. Now, vorticity is reported as a signature feature of electron viscosity in graphene, which leads to negative nonlocal resistance.
Two intriguing manifestations of Hall physics are reported in a topologically insulating heterostructure: a sign-reversal of the anomalous Hall effect and the emergence of a topological Hall effect.
In a Fermi gas with s-wave interactions the contact relations link the thermodynamic and microscopic properties. For the p-wave case two new types of contacts that characterize the interactions have now been measured experimentally.
Amorphous packings of spheres subject to shear and friction jam above a critical density. Simulations now show that shear results in geometrical patterns that are precursors to jammed structures and that friction effectuates the jamming.
Experiments and simulations of the transition to turbulence in fluid flow through a quasi-2D channel reveal critical exponents consistent with directed percolation — long conjectured to be the universality class associated with the transition.
Decades-old speculation that the transition to turbulence belongs to the directed percolation universality class is confirmed with experimental and numerical data for flow through a quasi-one-dimensional Couette geometry.
A magnetotransport study of zirconium pentatelluride now reveals evidence for a chiral magnetic effect, a striking macroscopic manifestation of the quantum and relativistic nature of Weyl semimetals.
Doubly magic atomic nuclei — having a magic number of both protons and neutrons — are very stable. Now, experiments revealing unexpectedly large charge radii for a series of Ca isotopes put the doubly magic nature of the 52Ca nucleus into question.
A 3D-printed fetal brain undergoes constrained expansion to reproduce the shape of the human cerebral cortex. The soft gels of the model swell in solvent, mimicking cortical growth and revealing the mechanical origin of the brain’s folded geometry.
The relation between structure and dynamics in glasses is not fully understood. A new approach based on machine learning now reveals a correlation between softness—a structural property—and glassy dynamics.
Controlled motion of a droplet on a hot surface is hampered by the formation of an evaporation layer below the droplet (Leidenfrost effect). But a cleverly patterned surface induces a Leidenfrost–contact-boiling state, directing the droplet’s motion.
Quantum mechanics sets a fundamental upper limit for the flow of heat. Such quantum-limited heat conduction is now observed over macroscopic distances, extending to a metre, in superconducting transmission lines.
A simulation method connects single-shot measurements in ultracold atom experiments to the probability distribution of the many-body wavefunction, elucidating the role of the fluctuations in different experimental situations.
A combination of neutron scattering, X-ray scattering and Mössbauer spectroscopy experiments reveal the existence of a collinear double-Q magnetic ordering in an iron arsenide superconductor.
Fibre networks become rigid at a critical connectivity, but biopolymers giving structure to cells aren’t always well connected. Modelling and experiments on collagen networks show that their rigidity constitutes strain-controlled critical behaviour.
Inelastic Raman scattering is used to probe the critical spin fluctuations in an iron pnictide superconductor, providing insights into the origin of nematic order in this system.
The electronic properties of oxide interfaces are renowned for their richness. A comprehensive study of a series of perovskite nickelates examines the interplay between charge transfer and hybridization effects.
Interlayer transport can be made to occur slower or faster than intralayer scattering in van der Waals heterostructures, allowing the thermalization pathways for optically excited carriers to be tuned.
Charge transport in a cyclically time-modulated periodic potential, also known as a topological Thouless pump, has been realized in an ultracold gas of fermionic atoms.
