Reviews & Analysis

A device with superconducting contacts connected to graphene in the quantum Hall regime hints at a novel Andreev scattering mechanism.

The spontaneous assembly of particulate or molecular 'building blocks' into larger architectures underlies structure formation in many biological and synthetic materials. Shape frustration of ill-fitting blocks holds a surprising key to more regular assemblies.

Two studies show evidence that single layers of a transition metal dichalcogenide are two-dimensional topological insulators.

Flow without friction is a strange phenomenon usually seen in quantum fluids that are cooled to temperatures near absolute zero, but features of superfluidity have now been seen with polaritons at ambient conditions.

Improved-accuracy measurements of the ground-state hyperfine splitting in highly charged bismuth ions reveal a surprising discrepancy with the predictions of quantum electrodynamics.

An excitonic Bose–Einstein condensate has so far been realized only in particular semiconductor heterostructure setups. Now, experiments show that such condensates can form in double graphene bilayers separated by hexagonal boron nitride.

Quantum information encoded in one of many interacting particles quickly becomes scrambled. A set of tools for tracking this process is on its way.

The Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen type of quantum entanglement can be used to improve the sensitivity of laser interferometer gravitational-wave detectors beyond the quantum limit.

The shorter the antenna, the higher the frequency — so what happens when nanoantennas hit optical frequencies? One answer may lead to high-harmonic generation without the need for high-powered lasers.

Topological concepts have been demonstrated in microwave photonic systems but laser-written waveguides show the way to topological physics for light at optical frequencies.

While axions remain elusive, the CERN Axion Solar Telescope has now reached the interesting region where physics beyond the standard model could be glimpsed.

Standard rheology tells us how a cell responds to deformation. But ramping up the frequency reveals more about its internal dynamics and morphology, mapping a route to improved drug treatments — and possible insight into the malignancy of cancers.

An enhanced production of particles with strange quarks has been observed in high-multiplicity proton–proton collisions — an important clue to understand how strange quarks form, and perhaps a hint of the quark–gluon plasma.

Solid-state systems capable of simulating the theoretical predictions of condensed matter are in short supply. Demonstrations of electronic Lieb lattices using two different platforms suggest this may be about to change.

Over the past decade, remarkable progress has occurred in the physics of closed quantum systems away from equilibrium, culminating in the recent experimental realization of so-called time crystals. This Progress Article surveys these developments.

Ferroelectricity and superconductivity do not have much in common. Now, a superconducting and a ferroelectric-like state have been found to coexist in a doped perovskite oxide.

A study of Λ_b baryon decays has provided the first direct experimental evidence that spinning matter and antimatter differ. This result may help us understand the puzzling matter–antimatter imbalance in the Universe.

Light beams with controllable orbital angular momentum can be generated in the extreme-ultraviolet or soft-X-ray regime, pushing the application of twisted light to the nanoscale.

A curious peak in the distribution describing stochastic switching in bacterial motility had researchers confounded. But a careful study performed under varying mechanical conditions has now revealed that the breaking of detailed balance is to blame.