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An optomechanical system made of an optical cavity filled with superfluid liquid helium provides the means to study phenomena involving different degrees of freedom than those in traditional solid-state resonators.
The triple point is a well-known feature on pressure–temperature phase diagrams. A multiferroic triple point is now reported for La-doped BiFeO3; La concentration and temperature are the phase variables and the phases display different spin (dis)order.
Light propagating through a cloud of cold atoms can be slowed down by exciting a certain type of spin wave in the atomic ensemble. This stationary light could find applications in quantum technologies.
Spin currents can be carried by electrons and by magnons. Experiments now show that, in one-dimensional spin chains, spin currents can also be carried by particle-like excitations known as spinons.
A study of the dynamics of so-called Kerr solitons in optical microresonators reports the discovery of a simple mechanism that permits the step-wise reduction of soliton states, one by one.
Surprising observations in the evolution of electronic states in electron-doped iridates provide fresh insight into the melting of the Mott state and might lead to a fuller understanding of corresponding processes in copper-oxide superconductors.
Valleys in momentum space provide a degree of freedom that could be exploited for applications. A demonstration of valley pseudospin control now completes the generation–manipulation–detection paradigm, paving the way for valleytronic devices.
The interplay between spin physics and superconductivity is examined in HgTe quantum wells, revealing a tunable momentum of the Cooper pairs that drives changes in their superconducting behaviour.
Experiments show that when driven by electric currents, magnetic skyrmions experience transverse motion due to their topological charge — similar to the conventional Hall effect experienced by charged particles in a perpendicular magnetic field.
Spindle-shaped cells readily form nematic structures marked by topological defects. When confined, the defect distribution is independent of the domain size, activity and type of cell, lending a stability not found in non-cellular active nematics.
Substorms in the Earth’s magnetosphere lead to bright aurorae, releasing energy into the surrounding ionosphere. Ground- and space-based observations now reveal how that energy is dissipated and controlled by strong electric currents.
A near-field optical microscopy study provides nanoscale insight into an insulator-to-metal transition and the interplay with a neighbouring structural phase transition in a prototypical correlated electron material.
A high-resolution age map of the Milky Way picks out structures that validate the most widely accepted cosmological theory, lambda cold dark matter. The chronographic data are also used to probe the chemodynamical formation history of our Galaxy.
Observations of topological surface states provide strong evidence that MoTe2 is a type-II Weyl semimetal, hosting Weyl fermions that have no counterpart in high-energy physics.
Processes in (space) plasmas occur on different levels — fluid, ion and electron. Now, from satellite data and simulations, an energy-transfer mechanism between the fluid and ion scales is reported: fluid velocity shear is converted into ion heating.
A colloidal particle connected to suspensions of motile bacteria forms a model system for studying microscale engines in contact with active baths. The engine outperforms its passive counterparts due to the presence of non-Gaussian fluctuations.
The acoustic analogue of a topological insulator is shown: a metamaterial exhibiting one-way sound transport along its edge. The system — a graphene-like array of stainless-steel rods — is a promising new platform for exploring topological phenomena.
Condensed-matter physics meets quantum optics in a study of light–matter interaction in the strong-coupling regime using a two-dimensional electron gas in a high-quality-factor terahertz cavity.
Images of the second-generation Dirac cones that form when graphene is placed on hexagonal boron nitride show the potential of using superlattices to engineer the electronic band structure of van der Waals heterostructures.
