Repeatedly driving a system with electromagnetic pulses can produce dramatically new quantum properties. A theoretical understanding of new types of quantum phases of interacting matter that exist only in the face of periodic driving is presented.

Interactions between light and matter are of fundamental interest in a variety of fields, such as solar-energy conversion. A new, accurate method, based on first principles, is used to predict the absorption and emission properties of a range of organic and inorganic molecules.

The future of quantum computing hinges on minimizing and correcting computational errors. Researchers investigate errors from the time evolution in systems of exotic quasiparticles, known as anyons, that could provide a well-protected platform for quantum computing.

Ensembles of ultracold atoms suffer only minimally from thermal fluctuations and, accordingly, are useful in a variety of fields. A new laser-cooling technique is demonstrated that can be applied to simple, abundant atoms such as hydrogen and carbon.

Van der Waals interactions are ubiquitous in different materials yet not always described properly by current theories. Now, researchers have determined how to accurately and efficiently treat long-range Van der Waals interactions together with other chemical bonds, new findings that are important for studies of layered materials.

A stepping stone to experimentally realizing new quantum phases of matter is to determine theoretically which phases are possible as a matter of principle. Researchers have now proposed theories of new topological crystalline insulators in three dimensions.

Researchers have added dopant atoms to a quantum spin liquid in an effort to make it superconduct, but the material upended theory by remaining an insulator.

Metasurfaces are engineered systems that enable advanced control of electromagnetic waves over deeply subwavelength thicknesses. Researchers make a careful study of the use of metasurfaces to transform the impinging optical wave front.

Short stretches of DNA that can inappropriately bind regulatory proteins are statistically rare in many genomes, suggesting that evolutionary pressure works against them.

The stochastic thermodynamic properties of an isothermal Brownian engine consisting of a micron-sized colloidal particle are calculated analytically and tested experimentally.

On atomic scales, some materials can destabilize because of electrostatic forces. Based on experimental evidence, researchers now theorize how exactly atoms rearrange to overcome this destabilization.

Information storage can be accomplished using quantum mechanical spin. Now, researchers have demonstrated a ferromagnetic nanostructure that can carry spin-polarized supercurrents.

A recasting of the theory that underlies thermal transport in electrical insulators relies on new vibrational modes called relaxons.

Observational astronomy devoted to the detection of ripples in spacetime was born in 2015 with the first detection of gravitational waves. Now, researchers use updated complete spin models to estimate the black hole component masses of the objects involved in the GW150914 coalescence event.

Advanced LIGO has observed three binary black hole merger events using sensitive interferometers located in Washington state and Louisiana. Based on estimates of the stellar-mass binary black hole merger rate, researchers are confident that additional detections will result from Advanced LIGO’s second run.

The second law of thermodynamics is concerned with what state formations are allowed by nature. Now, drawing inspiration from quantum information theory, researchers show that for microscopic or quantum systems, one can perform an outlawed state transformation.

The second law of thermodynamics plays an important role in both everyday life—think of hot coffee cooling off—and a range of scientific disciplines. Now, researchers prove a more accurate version of the second law, which states precisely by how much the hot coffee cools off, as well as being relevant to small quantum systems.

Lenses are critical to a variety of fields of science, but optical aberrations such as astigmatism are common problems. A “perfect” lens made of two metasurfaces is theoretically developed.

Many copper-based materials exhibit coupling between their electrons and excitations known as phonons. Now, researchers demonstrate a tool to accurately study the details of this coupling.

Spin-orbit interactions are responsible for intriguing phenomena such as topological insulating states. Now, scientists study the spin-orbit interactions of electrons directly at the interface between graphene and transition-metal dichalcogenides.

In certain materials, mechanical strain can mimic the effects of real electromagnetic fields. A theoretical examination explores how Dirac and Weyl semimetals respond to both torsional and unidirectional strain.

Many networks—electronic, physical, or biological—have mutually shared vulnerabilities that render them significantly less secure and robust. Now, the conditions necessary for secure connectivity within a network characterized by vulnerabilities affecting many nodes are calculated

Friction plays a key role in everyday life. A new study shows that frictional resistance depends on the geometry of the bodies in frictional contact.

High-precision quantum measurements often require signal amplification. A new technique shows how weak electromagnetic signals can be both amplified and modulated in frequency.

Nematic liquid crystals are widely used in the electronics industry. The variety of possible forms of nematic liquid crystals are investigated using techniques borrowed from high-energy physics.

Devices in which photons are naturally protected both against internal losses and backscattering would be valuable for amplifying quantum signals. A new approach proposes an amplifier where such protection is present and has a topological origin.

Light-matter interactions on the level of single photons will be important in next-generation communications and electronic devices. A new experiment shows how a confined electron can repeatedly emit a microwave photon.

Coherence is a fundamental feature of quantum theory and promises to underpin many future quantum technologies. By studying processes where it is not a necessary resource, researchers sharpen the theory of coherence finding links with interferometry and quantum correlations.

An object can be commonly thought of as rigid or floppy. Now, scientists design and build periodic gear assemblies that can have topological floppy modes.

Generating pure proton beams using lasers for novel cancer therapies has long challenged researchers. In a new experiment, scientists irradiate a thin hydrogen ribbon with a high-power laser to generate a large and pure population of protons.

Researchers determine how the steady states of a quantum system with multiple such states depend on the initial properties of the system.

Packing particles into a confined space is a feature of geological and industrial processes. A numerical investigation of the densest ways to pack aspherical particles may hold clues about the structure of granular piles.

Entanglement, a key aspect of quantum mechanics, is critical to quantum information theory. Researchers theoretically show how cold atoms can be manipulated to measure the entanglement spectrum of a many-body quantum state.

A significant challenge facing quantum computation is noise, and current theory proposes that it is surmountable if it is sufficiently weak and also weakly correlated in space and time. Now, researchers theoretically show that quantum computation can be achieved even when noise with arbitrary time correlations is present.

Quantum computing relies on realizing on-chip communication channels. Researchers propose a method to connect defect clusters in diamond at room temperature to enable information exchange.

Turbulence is inherent in both nature and industrial mixing applications. Numerical simulations shows how particles of different mass diffuse in a rotating medium.

Target search processes can be found in a variety of fields spanning animal science, disease spreading, geophysics, and molecular signaling in biology. A theoretical analysis of the distribution of particles arriving at a target a certain distance away from their origin is presented.

Unexpected forms of proximity-induced superconductivity can result from magnetization developing a “twist.” Researchers demonstrate the noncollinear magnetic structure of a nanometer-scale stack of two metallic oxides.

Experiments with ultracold magnetic atoms reveal liquid-like quantum droplets that are 20 times larger than previously observed droplets.

A key aspect of the standard model is the fact that quarks or gluons are not observed by themselves in nature. Scientists simulate, in one spatial dimension, the string breaking responsible for keeping these particles in pairs.

Cold atomic gases exhibit a phononic analog of the Lamb shift, in which energy levels shift in the presence of the quantum vacuum.

Electron-electron interactions are responsible for superconductivity, a state in which current flows without resistance. Researchers show that electron-electron interactions can be tuned at an oxide interface.

Qubits are necessary for next-generation quantum computers. Researchers theoretically demonstrate a topological fluid of photons to simulate such qubits.

The battle to improve measurement precision constantly forces scientists to develop more and more sophisticated methods. Surprisingly, theoretical demonstration shows that identical bosons, even when prepared in a random and noisy quantum state, can be used to attain precision surpassing that of classical statistics.

Iron-based materials often exhibit magnetism, superconductivity, and nematic order. A theoretical investigation looks at the interplay between magnetism and orbital order and how these properties affect superconductivity.

Controlling a material’s electronic characteristics has long been a goal of physicists. A new study shows how strain and magnetization affect the transport properties of Weyl and Dirac semimetals, which can be thought of as cousins of graphene.

A theoretical model of DNA as a polymer explains why chemical markers on genes can survive from one cell generation to the next.

The functionality of today’s technology in magnetic hard disks or memories relies on tiny relativistic effects in electron behavior that were previously believed to be too small to be directly observed. Researchers visualize these effects, for the first time, by showing how the electronic structure of iron responds to the direction of a magnetic field.

Quantum Monte Carlo simulations can shed light on exotic quantum phenomena, and now researchers present a model of fermions and Ising spins to conduct such simulations.

The discovery of the Higgs boson was a substantial leap forward for the particles physics community, yet puzzles still remain. Low-energy theories are proposed consistent with the unexpected low mass of the particle, which would, however, produce new types of deviations in upcoming experimental tests.

A precision quantum current source has been designed to calibrate currents in terms of the soon-to-be-redefined International System of Units.

Measurement-induced entanglement is a tenet of quantum mechanics. Researchers experimentally demonstrate entangled quantum trajectories of qubits located in separate superconducting cavities.

Biomolecular networks capable of counting time can be thought of as “Brownian clocks.” The energy budgets necessary to run two classes of such clocks, assuming some minimal required precision, are theoretically determined.

A set of over 1000 tiny, parallel chemical reactions demonstrates the first example of an echo phenomenon in a chemical system.

Spin-orbital interactions are of significant interest in condensed matter physics. Now, researchers show how spin and orbital order coexist in FeSc${}_2$S${}_4$.

Echo is a fundamental phenomenon observed in both nature and in scientific techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging. Now, researchers demonstrate new echo phenomena in the orientation of CO${}_2$ and N${}_2$O molecules excited by femtosecond lasers.

Scientists investigate the tension characterizing the interface region between miscible fluids and determine when and why they behave as if they were immiscible.

Researchers investigate a nonlinear wave collapse phenomenon that has hitherto evaded experimental detection.

A substance with controllable properties is valuable in many industrial applications. Scientists show how one such material—CeCoIn${}_5$—exists with three different superconducting and magnetic states intertwined together.

Coupling artificial atoms and acoustic waves may be key in future quantum information processing efforts. An experimental breakthrough in coupling nitrogen vacancy centers strongly to acoustic waves in a way that still preserves their spin coherence is reported.

Manufacturing materials with tailorable characteristics requires a detailed understanding of their properties as a function of temperature. A study of the mechanical stability and thermal conductivity of several hundred oxides and fluorides at temperatures up to 1000 K is presented.

Disorder—known as entropy—is inherent to all systems, natural and manmade. A way of quantifying a complex network’s entropy is proposed.

Point defects are unavoidable, and they can substantially modulate a material’s electronic, magnetic, and structural properties. Quantitative scanning transmission electron microscopy is used to reveal strontium vacancies in SrTiO${}_3$ films.

Coupled chemical reactions play an integral role in cellular functioning. A thermodynamical theory of chemical networks that process energy and information from their surroundings is presented.

A new method for calculating the time-evolving behavior of interacting quantum particles in one dimension can be used to model experiments that were previously beyond description.

Small deformations of most elastic materials follow a well-known law, but understanding of large deformations is lacking. Scientists investigate large strain behavior using a gel deformed by the weight of a heavy bead.

Extracting weak signals from quantum systems is often a test of quantum control. Classical signal-processing techniques are adapted to allow the systematic and efficient design of composite quantum gates for such tasks.

Researchers show that momentum of particles in some exotic crystalline phases of matter can become fractionalized compared to that of a single particle, and they lay out a way to connect this phenomenon with bulk properties of the crystal.

Crystals with a certain symmetry commonly found in nature come in two varieties: Those with an odd electron number are always metals, and those with an even electron number are either ordinary insulators or topological metals. Now, a new class of topological metals is proposed.

Quantum information can be pumped around the edges of a two-dimensional system of bosons, pointing to a possible way to distribute entanglement in quantum communication.