This condensed matter PRX Perspective explores the future experimental and theoretical trends of resonant inelastic x-ray scattering, highlighting how this versatile and rapidly growing technique is poised to deepen our understanding of quantum materials and their emergent electronic phenomena.

In a light-driven reaction between weakly bound H${}_2$ and D${}_2$ molecules, the swift nuclear vibrational motion of H${}_2$ greatly influences overall reaction yields and efficiency.

Confining an active nematic system in spherical droplets suppresses chaotic flows, a key step toward a variety of important biomedical and ecological applications.

A novel theoretical relation, linking oscillatory phenomena to entropy production rate, offers new insights into how brain waves cause the irreversibility of neural dynamics.

A proposed method for predicting which electronic orders are most likely to arise in correlated systems does so for flat-band systems with strong correlations, in analogy to existing techniques for weakly interacting systems.

An infrared detector is sensitive to a wide range of intensities and could potentially pick up biomarkers from exoplanet atmospheres.

A study of the multiscale colony dynamics of $Paenibacillus$ $vortex$ bacteria reveals robust edge flows originating from an asymmetry in the motion of individual bacteria, demonstrating how biological chirality transfers across scales.

A new qubit design uses a superconducting quantum circuit intrinsically protected from losses through its engineered couplings to the environment, potentially offering a building block for robust quantum computing at scale.

Experiments demonstrate high-fidelity readout of a tin-vacancy qubit in diamond, demonstrating a readiness for applications in quantum technologies.

The mitigation of a previously neglected energy-loss mechanism in organic light-emitting diodes has enabled researchers to enhance both efficiency and lifetime of these devices.

A first-of-its-kind analysis of acoustic waves generated in crystalline materials following x-ray excitation helps inform broader efforts to understand x-ray interactions with matter.

A systematic study of the unusual “planar thermal Hall effect” in cuprates reveals a contribution from phonons, adding a piece to the puzzle of understanding the baffling phonon thermal Hall effect.

Experiments with a quantum computer reveal how measurements at small scale lead to the collapse of macroscopic quantities into well-defined values, thus shedding light on how classical physics emerges from quantum physics at large scales.

Embedding a diamond color center in an open optical resonator provides fully tunable control over the light-matter interaction at the single-photon level, paving the way for novel quantum-technology platforms.

A new approach to encoding information in a fluxonium qubit extends its relaxation and coherence times, making this platform a promising candidate for future quantum computing applications.

Axions—theorized particles that could account for dark matter—could accumulate around rapidly rotating neutron stars to the point that they become detectable.

A new method for studying the behavior of multiparticle systems relies on a simple “head count” of particles in imaginary boxes.

For quantum computers to reach their potential, the number of qubits must be massively scaled up. A new trapped-ion architecture takes a step in that direction by enabling arbitrarily long ion chains.

A new theoretical toolkit harnesses tensor networks to efficiently describe any general quantum dynamical system that displays complex, long-range memory.

A new approach to enzyme activation based on targeted modulation of protein conformational ensembles expands its scope beyond allosteric mechanisms, enabling therapeutic design for previously undruggable enzymes.

The formation of transient loops in DNA during replication may potentially impact chromosome organization across multiple temporal and spatial scales.

Thermoelectric measurements reveal that the metallic state in nickelate superconductors is that of a conventional metal, providing a clearer starting point for understanding this otherwise unconventional type of superconductivity.

Boron acceptors in the silicon substrates of superconducting qubits act as atomic-scale defects that can lead to qubit decay.

Theoretical work provides a long-awaited explanation for why measurements of qubits in superconducting quantum computers are less accurate than expected.

Exchange-bias phenomena have a potential role to play in ultra-high-density magnetic storage. Observations of a unique exchange-bias phenomenon offer new avenues for the design of such devices.

A numerical analysis of a triangular lattice model in a perpendicular magnetic field reveals a rich phase diagram not captured by the simple continuum models usually used to study the quantum Hall effect.

Imaging of never-before-seen concentric patterns around atomic-scale defects in the quantum spin liquid candidate $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$ opens a new avenue for probing the electronic behavior of this exotic quantum state.

Simulations deliver hints on how the multiverse produced according to the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics might be compatible with our stable, classical Universe.

A scheme that moves electromagnetically trapped ions around a 2D array of sites could aid development of scaled-up ion-based quantum computing.

Grover’s algorithm has no proven quantum advantage as soon as the same input is given to classical and quantum computers. In a best-case scenario, it speeds up problems that would take thousands of years to solve on a quantum computer.

A new concept for computational quantum networks can connect arbitrary qubit pairs, offering greater flexibility than current architectures without sacrificing performance.

A condition called uniformity—in which the steady states of a perturbed quantum channel relax to those of an unperturbed one—may be common to many open phases of matter, narrowing the search for new examples.

A proposed optical tomography scheme can dynamically sample a broadband quantum state using an ultrabroadband probe pulse, opening a new paradigm for time-domain quantum tomography with subcycle resolution.

A framework for simulating a continuous theory of spacetime as a discrete network provides a way to make such simulations more tractable and deepens insights into how symmetries interact with continuous and discrete spacetime.

An obstacle placed in a suspension of active, swimming particles leads to unexpected modulations in particle density far from the obstacle, highlighting the complex ways in which microswimmers interact with their environment.

Nonreversible Markov-chain Monte Carlo algorithms have great potential for sampling probability distributions but are difficult to conceive and analyze. An exactly solvable many-particle paradigm features astonishingly fast dynamics.

A theoretical study of the Kondo breakdown transition—a sudden localization of $f$ electrons in heavy-fermion metals—provides new insights into what drives both the localization and the concurrent emergence of strange-metal behavior.

Wigner crystals, frozen 2D arrangements of electrons, generally require strong magnetic fields. The formation of such phases in Cd${}_3$As${}_2$ without a magnetic field point to an unconventional means for their formation.

A theoretical model shows that exchange of information plays a key role in the molecular machines found in biological cells.

Atomic-scale investigations of how vortices get pinned to defects in superconductors offers new insights into enabling new superconductor-based applications.

Certain geometric features in the electronic structure of a material hosting a 2D system of strongly interacting electrons can lead to a crystal-like pattern—an anomalous Hall crystal—that insulates in its bulk but conducts along its edges.

Spectroscopy reveals remarkable topological properties of a superconducting circuit that could inspire the design of more robust qubits.

A proposed test of quantum entanglement in photoionization experiments offers a way to directly detect this overlooked yet crucial aspect of attosecond physics.

A novel type of real-time microwave spectrum analyzer, using atoms as microscopic antennas, has the potential to achieve a much higher bandwidth than current analyzers.

A new theoretical understanding of what shortens the lifetime of blue phosphorescent organic LEDs paves the way for improving those lifetimes and enabling widespread adoption in digital displays.

The ground states of homogeneous electron gases have been used to predict material properties for nearly a century. A new formulation extends this to excited states.

A new technique for cooling trapped ions does so in a fraction of the time required with traditional methods, all without the need for changing out existing hardware.

Model-independent relations between fluctuation and response statistics for systems driven by random pulses, derived for the first time, could have applications for collective neural dynamics and single photon detection.

Evidence of helical edge states in the layered crystal $\alpha$-Bi${}_4$I${}_4$ suggests that this material is not a trivial insulator, as predicted, but a new phase of matter dubbed a 3D quantum spin Hall insulator.

Kerr-cat qubits are promising for practical quantum computing. A new 2D implementation introduces an efficient, strong light-matter coupling scheme for stabilization, leading to improved coherence and universal control.

The first realization of an innovative—but until now, only theoretical—way to couple transmon-based qubits provides high fidelity in quantum gates, paving the way for a novel building block for superconducting quantum processors.

The maximum entropy principle—a central assumption behind statistical physics—holds much more broadly and strongly in quantum systems than previously considered.

An investigation of domain walls in ferroelectric materials unveils the complexity of their structure and sets the stage for similar studies in other materials, with the aim of leveraging domain walls in future nanoelectronics.

A study of how structural symmetry breaking impacts key structural, electronic, and magnetic properties in the cuprate BSCCO resolves several long-standing puzzles in this intriguing superconducting material.

New open-source software provides a versatile environment for quantum numerical simulations of the dynamics of the inner crust of superfluid neutron stars.

A small number of separated, incoherent nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond can enter the regime of collective photon emission when coupled to a microcavity, establishing a possible platform for steps toward scalable quantum systems.

Continuous monitoring of an ancillary transmon in a superconducting cavity qubit provides real-time feedback that improves the qubit dephasing time by as much as a factor of 20, a promising route for boosting the fidelity of quantum gates.

Semi-Dirac fermions, which are massless in one 2D direction but possess mass in the other, have so far eluded detection in solids. New experiments reveal their defining feature in the nodal-line metal ZrSiS.

A proposed remote-sensing scheme could potentially probe targets hundreds of kilometers away and uses one of the strangest quantum properties of light.

A dynamical notion of quantum ergodicity provides a framework for exploring the universality of the late-time behavior of driven quantum systems.

An analysis of the quasitopological responses of topological semimetals to distortions of their crystal lattice sheds light on the relationship between material properties and crystalline symmetries.

Despite many competing physicochemical effects, collections of proteinlike particles tend to self-assemble into a relatively small set of large-scale structures.

An array of dual-isotope ytterbium atoms provides a hybrid architecture of data and ancilla qubits in which the state of the former is not degraded by readout of the latter, opening a new avenue for fault-tolerant quantum computing.

The multiMSM framework uses Markov state models to simulate self-assembly and self-organization on timescales orders of magnitude longer than those accessible to brute-force dynamics simulations.

An analysis of certain quantum models reveals which ones support emergent classical objectivity—that is, the notion that a consensus between observers of a system arises when information is encoded into the environment with massive redundancy.

Oscillatory changes in resistance in the presence of magnetic fields are typically seen only in conductors. New experiments report such oscillations in an insulating system that are markedly different from those in conductors.

Nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond can amplify microwave signals at room temperature and with little noise added, setting up a possible resurgence for maser amplifiers.

A first numerical study of realistic microgels shows excellent agreement with experimental observations, paving the way toward a microscopic understanding of soft-particle suspensions under ultradense conditions.

The Brown-Susskind conjecture describes how the complexity of quantum circuits evolves. A new analysis provides rigorous proof of key aspects of this conjecture in two significant models of chaotic quantum evolution.

A comprehensive framework for understanding exact quantum many-body scars—states that fail to thermalize—paves the way for a formal theory of such states and a classification of the associated Hamiltonians.

A protocol for engineering hierarchical symmetries opens a new path to stabilizing quantum states, which can be particularly useful in quantum computing and quantum simulation.

Low-temperature microspectroscopy of single $G$ centers, a type of fluorescent point defect in silicon, reveals that the defect’s central atom hops among six crystal sites under optical excitation.

An enhancement of the quadrupole relaxation rate around the critical temperature of the cuprate YBa${}_2$Cu${}_4$O${}_8$ helps elucidate a distinction between conventional and unconventional superconductors.