Research articles

X-ray pump–probe experiments reveal that the molecular structure of C₆₀ molecules substantially delays their fragmentation following photoionization. This may help to understand X-ray laser-induced radiation damage on molecules.

Matter-wave interference experiments demonstrate quantum superposition of molecules consisting of up to 2,000 atoms—the heaviest objects to show this quantum behaviour to date. This provides a bound on potential modifications to quantum mechanics.

The Kibble–Zurek mechanism, that is, the spontaneous formation of topological defects in a system crossing a continuous phase transition, is observed in a strongly interacting Fermi gas, where the underlying symmetry plays a crucial role.

Few-layer magnetic materials sometimes show a different form of magnetism from their thicker equivalents. The authors contend that the mechanism is changes in the stacking order in the thin limit that modify the interlayer exchange interaction.

An effective Hamiltonian exhibiting \({\Bbb Z}_2\) symmetry has been engineered by implementing a Floquet-based method on ultracold bosons in an optical lattice, providing a first step towards quantum simulation of \({\Bbb Z}_2\) lattice gauge theories with ultracold matter.

A dissipative Kerr soliton crystal state is a temporally ordered regular ensemble of soliton pulses within a cavity. Chaotic driving of optical resonators enables the defect-free creation and dynamical characterization of these states.

A chiral fluid comprising spinning colloidal magnets exhibits macroscopic dynamics reminiscent of the free surface flows of Newtonian fluids, together with unique features suggestive of Hall—or odd—viscosity.

In a model system crosslinked by motors, cytoskeletal polymers slide past each other at speeds independent of their polarity. This behaviour is best described within an active-gel framework that deviates from the dilute limit set by existing theory.

Stacked 2D materials can host excitons with distinct valley selection rules due to the spatial variation of the moiré pattern. The authors demonstrate this via optical spectroscopy, opening a route for control of optoelectronic devices.

A quantum circuit-based algorithm inspired by convolutional neural networks is shown to successfully perform quantum phase recognition and devise quantum error correcting codes when applied to arbitrary input quantum states.

The authors demonstrate magnetoresistance of 80% from a two-dimensional electron gas proximity coupled to a ferromagnetic layer. This extends spintronics functionality to semiconductor devices.

Photonic Weyl points—topologically chiral singularity points in three-dimensional momentum space—have been realized in a homogeneous non-reciprocal material without a crystal lattice structure.

The realization of a molecular lattice clock based on vibrations in diatomic molecules is reported with coherence times lasting over tens of milliseconds, which is enabled by the use of a state-insensitive magic lattice trap.

The authors use STM to show that there are two different classes of zero-bias peak in vortex cores of Fe(Te,Se). One class is topological, one not. These are distinguished by a shift in the energy levels of the excited states.

Non-trivial Peierls phases that depend on the site occupations for ultracold fermions in an optical lattice have been engineered in a Floquet approach, providing a fundamental ingredient for a density-dependent gauge field acting on ultracold matter.

A transverse wind is shown to be capable of inciting a droplet to move along a horizontal fibre due to the presence of an asymmetric wake behind the droplet. Such a perturbation can even induce repulsive interactions between droplets.

By coupling a superconducting qubit to surface acoustic waves the ‘giant atom’ regime is realized, where an atom is coupled to a field with wavelength orders of magnitude smaller than the atomic size. This leads to non-Markovian qubit dynamics.

Electron bunches are generated and accelerated to relativistic velocities by tunnel ionization of neutral gas species in a plasma. This represents a step towards ultra-bright, high-emittance beams in plasma wakefield accelerators. [This summary has been amended from ‘laser-plasma’ to ‘plasma wakefield’ accelerators.]

An observation that cells at the edge of a healing wound readily undergo intercalation leads to the finding that tissue fluidity is crucial for effective wound closure.

The carrier-envelope-phase-sensitive component of field-driven photoemission at the tip of a nanostructure shows a dip with a sudden phase shift. This is a consequence of its nonlinear dependence on the tunnel ionization and is not limited to solids.