Theory and computation articles within Nature Physics

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  • Article |

    The mechanism by which two-dimensional materials remain stable at a finite temperature is still under debate. Now, numerical calculations suggest that rotational symmetry is crucial in suppressing anharmonic effects that lead to structural instability.

    • Unai Aseginolaza
    • , Josu Diego
    •  & Ion Errea

  • News & Views |

    Calculations support experiments in predicting the existence and properties of point defects in solids but often do not correctly capture their details. A different method can significantly improve the prediction of defect structures and properties.

    • Arun Mannodi-Kanakkithodi

  • Letter |

    When electrons in a crystal interact with the surrounding lattice, they can form quasiparticles known as polarons. A computational approach to studying polarons in two-dimensional materials explains why they are rarely observed in these systems.

    • Weng Hong Sio
    •  & Feliciano Giustino

  • Article |

    Wrinkling happens because of mechanical instabilities arising from length mismatches. A theory now describes wrinkling in confined elastic shells and is expected to be relevant for the controlled design of complex wrinkle patterns.

    • Ian Tobasco
    • , Yousra Timounay
    •  & Eleni Katifori

  • Article |

    The dynamic relaxation spectrum of a supercooled liquid is asymmetric near the glass transition. Overcoming the difficulty of accessing low temperatures and long timescales, simulations now attribute this feature to dynamic facilitation.

    • Benjamin Guiselin
    • , Camille Scalliet
    •  & Ludovic Berthier

  • News & Views |

    Charge density waves are the periodic spatial modulation of electrons in a solid. A new experiment reveals that they can originate from two different electronic bands in a prototypical transition metal dichalcogenide, NbSe2.

    • Young-Woo Son

  • Article |

    Macroscale patterns seen in biological systems such as animal coats or skin can be described by Turing’s reaction–diffusion theory. Now Turing patterns are shown to also exist in bismuth monolayers, an exemplary nanoscale atomic system.

    • Yuki Fuseya
    • , Hiroyasu Katsuno
    •  & Aharon Kapitulnik

  • Review Article |

    Moiré heterostructures have latterly captured the attention of condensed-matter physicists. This Review Article explores the idea of adopting them as a quantum simulation platform that enables the study of strongly correlated physics and topology in quantum materials.

    • Dante M. Kennes
    • , Martin Claassen
    •  & Angel Rubio

  • Comment |

    Methodology adapted from data science sparked the field of materials informatics, and materials databases are at the heart of it. Applying artificial intelligence to these databases will allow the prediction of the properties of complex organic crystals.

    • R. Matthias Geilhufe
    • , Bart Olsthoorn
    •  & Alexander V. Balatsky

  • Article |

    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.

    • Sebastian Fürthauer
    • , Bezia Lemma
    •  & Michael J. Shelley

  • Article |

    A bottom-up mathematical approach provides a framework for the design of mechanical networks of two- or three-dimensional frames composed of freely rotating rods and springs that achieve any desired coordinate motion.

    • Jason Z. Kim
    • , Zhixin Lu
    •  & Danielle S. Bassett

  • Article |

    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).

    • S. Peli
    • , S. Dal Conte
    •  & C. Giannetti

  • Letter |

    When deforming snow slowly, it resists. But when applying a deformation rapidly, it gives in more easily. Experiments now reveal propagating deformation bands and the localization of strain in compressed snow — both natural and artificial.

    • Thomas W. Barraclough
    • , Jane R. Blackford
    •  & Michael Zaiser

  • Letter |

    The elastic energy built up during peptide self-assembly is exploited in the realization of a microactuator. The energy stored is released on millisecond timescales via a buckling instability controlled with droplet microfluidics.

    • Aviad Levin
    • , Thomas C. T. Michaels
    •  & Tuomas P. J. Knowles

  • Commentary |

    Many-electron wavefunctions face the exponential-wall problem at large electron numbers. Formulating wavefunctions with the help of cumulants effectively avoids this problem and provides a valuable starting point for electronic-structure calculations for solids.

    • Peter Fulde

  • Article |

    Heat transport is well described by the Green–Kubo formalism. Now, the formalism is combined with density-functional theory, enabling simulations of thermal conduction in systems that cannot be adequately modelled by classical interatomic potentials.

    • Aris Marcolongo
    • , Paolo Umari
    •  & Stefano Baroni

  • Article |

    A combination of nonlinear optical experiments, piezoresponse force microscopy and Monte Carlo simulations resolves the correlation between polarization, topology and temperature for the hexagonal manganite YMnO3—a persistent ferroelectrics puzzle.

    • Martin Lilienblum
    • , Thomas Lottermoser
    •  & Manfred Fiebig

  • Article |

    Nematic phases with broken crystal rotation symmetry are as ubiquitous in superconductors as they are puzzling. One model shows that frustrated magnetism alone can account for the nematicity in FeSe, which shows no measurable magnetic order.

    • Fa Wang
    • , Steven A. Kivelson
    •  & Dung-Hai Lee

  • Article |

    Ferroelectric domain switching on the surface of a lithium niobate thin film can be induced by the tip of a scanning probe microscope, and gives rise to both regular and chaotic spatiotemporal patterns. Moreover, the long-range interactions that govern these phenomena can be tuned by varying temperature, humidity, domain spacing and tip bias.

    • A. V. Ievlev
    • , S. Jesse
    •  & S. V. Kalinin

  • Letter |

    It is known that graphene exhibits natural ripples with characteristic lengths of around 10 nm. But when it is stretched across nanometre-scale trenches that form in a reconstructed copper surface, it develops even tighter corrugations that cannot be explained by continuum theory.

    • Levente Tapasztó
    • , Traian Dumitrică
    •  & László P. Biró

  • News & Views |

    Graphene exhibits many extraordinary properties, but superconductivity isn't one of them. Two theoretical studies suggest that by decorating the surface of graphene with the right species of dopant atoms, or by using ionic liquid gating, superconductivity could yet be induced.

    • Oskar Vafek

  • Article |

    Chiral superconducting states are expected to support a variety of exotic and potentially useful phenomena. Theoretical analysis suggests that just such a state could emerge in a doped graphene monolayer.

    • Rahul Nandkishore
    • , L. S. Levitov
    •  & A. V. Chubukov

  • Letter |

    Graphene exhibits many extraordinary properties. But, despite many attempts to find ways to induce it, superconductivity is not one of them. First-principles calculations suggest that by decorating the surface of graphene with lithium atoms, it could yet be made to superconduct.

    • Gianni Profeta
    • , Matteo Calandra
    •  & Francesco Mauri

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