Measuring the superconducting gap of multiband materials is a difficult but important task. New results reveal a full characterization of the superconducting gap of Fe-based superconductors.

Artificial intelligence will only become more ubiquitous with time. Scientists reveal that using quantum physics in autonomous learning agents yields a quadratic increase in speed in active learning.

Quantum Monte Carlo methods are used to calculate the spin superexchange interaction constant of a cuprate material, demonstrating that these methods can efficiently handle the strong electronic correlations of transition metal oxides.

Dense plasmas, found in stellar interiors, are composed of atoms with decreased ionization potentials compared with isolated atoms. Researchers have developed a new model to explain the ionization potential data, successfully reproducing the results that previous models could not.

Modern electronics rely on semiconductors such as silicon. Researchers show how a new class of semiconductors—monolayer transition-metal dichalcogenides—can be optimized to improve device performance.

Many important studies in gravitational-wave science require the repeated evaluation of computationally expensive models. A new approach to gravitational-wave-model evaluation can reduce computational times by orders of magnitude.

Developing quantum computing relies on realizing controllable nonclassical states of light or matter. Researchers show that photon pairs can feature strong quantum entanglement and reconfigurable nonclassical correlations.

Quantum fluctuations near absolute zero may be responsible for the exotic superconductivity of cuprates and other materials. A new study finds that quantum fluctuations of Ising chains in CoNb${}_2$O${}_6$ in a transverse magnetic field survive at surprisingly high temperatures.

Non-Abelian fractionalized excitations can be used to construct quantum computers. Researchers now show that two seemingly different systems—a fractional quantum Hall system and a fractional topological superconductor—may both be able to perform universal quantum computations.

Landau’s thermodynamic approach to structural phase transitions is typically only applicable at ambient pressures. New results reveal how this powerful theory can be extended to the high-pressure environments ubiquitously found in planet interiors.

Scientists studying multidimensional systems invariant under a combined mirror-reflection and time-reversal operation find that the presence of degeneracy plays an important role in determining the spontaneous symmetry-breaking transition.

Topological insulators such as SmB${}_6$ have widespread uses in spintronics and quantum computation applications. New experiments suggest that the low-temperature conductivity of SmB${}_6$ can be modulated via carbon doping, providing a chemical way to control resistivity.

Charged particles can emit electromagnetic radiation when passing through a dielectric medium. Researchers now show that the same effect can occur for neutral atoms passing near silver films.

On the atomic level, both crystals and disordered solids flow under deformation. Numerical simulations show that, for disordered solids, this flow may be understood in terms of so-called “soft spots.”

Information manipulation such as copying and erasing has associated thermodynamic implications. Scientists develop a unified framework describing the thermodynamics of information processing, suggesting that their analyses might be useful for biological sensing.

Graphene promises to be a revolutionary component of upcoming electronic devices. New calculations and experiments reveal that the electronic structure of graphene can be recovered even when the graphene is grown on a metal substrate.

Cuprates exhibit high-temperature superconductivity, but many of their properties above the transition temperature remain mysterious. Scientists propose that a different kind of fluctuating superconductivity is responsible for these strange properties.

High-temperature superconductors can exhibit normal states below the critical temperature $T_c$ in the presence of large magnetic fields. New results reveal than an iron-based superconductor undergoes a superconductor-insulator transition as $T_c$ approaches zero.

Measuring temperature on very small scales is a difficult task and it is not clear if temperature as a local property is even meaningful at such scales. New mathematical tools show that an intensive definition of temperature is possible whenever the global temperature is above a critical value.

Confined ultracold gases exhibit a baffling property: restricting the motion of the atoms causes fewer clusters to form, not more. Researchers theoretically show that strong confinement can be used to engineer more stable structures.

Focusing beyond the diffraction limit can be achieved using radiationless electromagnetic interference. Now, simulations demonstrate this technique’s ability to visually image cells and look for defects inside of semiconductors.

Building a quantum computer has long been thought to require futuristic technologies. New calculations reveal that physical qubits can be assembled that are scalable and function at the readily accessible temperature of 4 K.

Electrides have valence electrons that occupy the space between ions. Researchers discover six new two-dimensional electrides that may play important roles in condensed matter magnetism.

Noncovalent biospecific interactions between macromolecules play a crucial role in biology. The ability to detect them in real time is key for the understanding of biology at the molecular level and also for the development of diagnostic tests.

Bose-Einstein condensates have previously been shown to exist at cryogenic temperatures. New results reveal that a microcavity based on CdTe can yield room-temperature, equilibrium Bose-Einstein condensation.

Borromean binding describes the case in which three objects are more favorably bound than two. Scientists calculate that Borromean binding occurs in ultracold Fermi gases with synthetic spin-orbit coupling, which is universal against short-range details of interaction potentials.

Topological effects can result from a material’s intrinsic properties, or can be generated by external electromagnetic fields or mechanical deformations. Researchers analyze how driven quantum systems can lead to new topological states of matter.

New theoretical calculations confirm the known thermodynamic stability of orbital domains in transition metal oxides, but only if there is charge transfer from the bulk domains onto their boundaries. In stark contrast, an external field is required to stabilize most domain structures commonly seen.

Nonequilibrium thermodynamics is relatively common in a range of scientific fields. Scientists show that observations of nonequilibrium thermodynamics can yield predictions of quantum many-body systems.

Nuclear reactions that produce alpha particles have been studied for decades, but new experiments yield higher fluxes of alpha particles using only moderate-power lasers.

Integrated photonics rely on optical waveguides in which light is confined to a core. Researchers theorize about a gauge-field waveguide that achieves single-mode, one-way guiding.

Stock prices, weather patterns, and gene expressions are examples of systems controlled by a large number of variables. Researchers show that determining which variables are correlated may be more complex that adopting the results of principal correlation analysis.

Investigations of quantum dots yield information about the properties of semiconductors on the smallest scales. Researchers show that quantum dots can exhibit an orbital ferromagnet phase due to the interplay of strong Rashba spin-orbit coupling and Coulomb interactions.

Sampling complex phase spaces is a challenge in the fields of astronomy, physics, and biology, among others. Researchers develop a new sampling technique based on nested sampling and global optimization that has far-reaching applications.

Analogs of graphene known as topological semimetals exhibit quantum anomalies, leading to induced electrical currents and voltage drops far away from the original point of injection.

Recent optical imaging techniques have allowed scientists to probe magnetic atomic correlations. Researchers show how atomic spins can be imprinted in the fluctuations of light scattered off atoms.

Models of how proteins diffuse and interact with one another can inform studies of cell-scale biological processes. Scientists have developed a new algorithm that tracks the spatial and temporal evolution of protein interactions on the scale of individual proteins.

Photovoltaics are garnering new attention given rising energy costs. A numerical model shows how metallic nanoparticles in a uniform semiconductor matrix can efficiently produce a directional current from a uniform light source.

Superconducting quantum circuits are susceptible to losing photons. Scientists provide a blueprint for how lost photons can be passively refilled by coupling the primary circuit to a second lattice of intentionally bad qubits, with a much faster loss rate than the primary lattice.

Quantum states of matter at absolute zero support phase transitions. Researchers calculate that a spin-charge-Chern liquid state should exist to describe 1/4-doped correlated systems on a honeycomb lattice.

Doping is used to alter the electronic properties of materials. A new investigation shows that the superconductivity of iron-based superconductors is modulated in extraordinary ways by doping.

Metamaterials can be engineered to exhibit properties not typically found in nature, including asymmetric transmission and surface-wave cloaking. Researchers show that metamaterials can also yield acoustic one-way cloaks.

A circuit for microwave photons provides a useful test bed for nonequilibrium physics.

Technologically important semiconductors rely on impurities of foreign atoms. Researchers successfully model charged defects in two-dimensional semiconductors and insulators by assuming a specific dielectric constant profile.

Skyrmions are complex, topological patterns that arise in magnetic materials. Researchers show that spin-orbit coupling in two dimensions stabilizes skyrmions.

Online social networks offer a data-driven way to study patterns of human behavior on small and large scales. Researchers show that individuals are significantly more likely to enroll in social networks based on the influence of one active friend than the influence of mass-media campaigns.

Experiments on neuron fibers from earthworms and lobsters reveal that two nerve pulses that collide do not annihilate, contrary to common beliefs of nerve electrophysiology.

Topologically ordered systems exhibit long-range quantum entanglement. New calculations show that a trio of looplike excitations can be braided to produce rich information about both the underlying topological order.

Many materials with industrial applications are composed of smaller constituent particles arranged in a specific geometry. Scientists investigate how spatial dimension affects design rules, yielding results that reduce computational costs.

Liquid crystals have widespread applications in physics and technology, most notably as optical devices. A new study shows how three phases of liquid crystals are closely related cousins by considering their topological defects and ground states.

Futuristic quantum computing promises to improve computational times by many orders of magnitude. A quantum dot coupled to a superconductor is shown to be a powerful experimental probe of the inner workings of a system.

Superfluid Bose-Einstein condensates have been shaped into circuits that resemble practical superconducting circuits. A new technique measures the current in these circuits and characterizes one of its basic components, called a “weak link.”

Materials with multiple properties of interest to condensed-matter physicists are rare. New studies indicate that single-layer FeSe may be both a high-temperature superconductor and a topological insulator.

An investigation of the light scattering properties of monolayer graphene in the near-field regime finds, surprisingly, that inelastic scattering on the nanoscale is a partially coherent process.

Pressures of hundreds of kbar can induce unexpected material properties. The antiferromagnet CeAu${}_2$Si${}_2$ is shown to have overlapping magnetic and superconducting phases at high pressures.

Generating random numbers is critical to securing both communications and data. New results reveal how consumer hardware such as mobile phones can generate random numbers with a quantum origin.

Order appears to be a common property of a wide range of objects at low temperatures. A long-sought general theory to describe the behavior of ordered systems is presented.

Error-correction protocols needed to combat thermal noise and allow the use of non-Abelian anyons in quantum computing technologies are demonstrated.