A new analysis of the 2017 gravitational-wave detection (GW170817) from the presumed merger of two neutron stars provides new constraints on the component masses, spins, and tidal deformations.

The Kuramoto model has long described synchronization among members of a swarm but only in two dimensions. A new study extends this model to work with any number of dimensions, giving remarkable results for odd dimensions.

A new analysis provides insight into the statistical and geometric properties of complex, rugged, high-dimensional energy landscapes that represent cost functions in many complex systems.

A new device circumvents a crucial limit to measurement efficiencies of superconducting circuits, providing a route for investigations of fundamental quantum effects and quantum control protocols.

A new theoretical framework for studying frustrated quantum magnets reveals the effects of quantum fluctuations as the system becomes more quantum in nature.

A quantum teleportation protocol provides a means of differentiating between quantum scrambling and decoherence, a crucial diagnostic for quantum information systems.

Squeezed states of lights, which reduce fundamental quantum uncertainty, are actually counterproductive when attempting to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of a rapidly accelerated light source.

The scattering of light from vibrating particles could be harnessed to build directional devices such as optical diodes.

A new type of artificial electronic lattice provides a means to control coupling among $p$-type orbitals, paving the way for electronic devices that manipulate orbital degrees of freedom in addition to charge and spin.

Researchers demonstrate spin splitting of localized electronic states, called Andreev bound states, in a superconducting device.

Magnetic monopole behavior may arise in a magnetoelectric material when an electric charge is brought near the surface, according to an analysis of Maxwell’s equations and experiments using muon-spin spectroscopy.

A new complete classification of the bulk-boundary correspondence for topological crystalline phases relates the bulk material properties to the dimensionality and conductance of topologically protected boundary states.

New protocols based on machine-learning techniques can identify malfunctions in hardware used to demonstrate quantum supremacy, which is itself a critical milestone on the road to a scalable universal quantum computer.

Experiments show that plastic deformation in stressed amorphous materials exhibits a characteristic magnitude that depends on particle shape, an insight that could help prevent catastrophic failure.

New experiments show that liquid water can exist at temperatures near -150 °C, just above the glass transition in expanded high-density amorphous ice.

A new quantum-circuit-based approach to studying fermionic symmetry-protected topological phases could help researchers understand the classification and characterization of these exotic states of matter.

A ring of “Janus” oscillators—oscillators made from two components with differing natural frequencies—can exhibit myriad synchronization patterns.

Quantum Monte Carlo methods provide the first reliable prediction for the fundamental electronic band gap in phosphorene, a material with invaluable optical and electronic properties.

A proposed new technique extracts frequency domain information from the observed trajectory of a single microscopic particle in a complex fluid.

A new analysis of “hard phase” inference problems reveals glasslike behavior. Accounting for this insight does not improve algorithm performance, bolstering the notion that such problems cannot be solved in a practical amount of time.

New experiments demonstrate how qubits coupled to a superconducting microwave photonic crystal can provide a tunable, robust platform for quantum simulation.

Collective human behaviors may arise from simple correlations between individuals rather than from context-specific external influences.

A new approach to modeling complex networks relies on simple statistics to describe long-range correlations that accurately capture the underlying network structure.

Characterizing chirality in nanodevices is often plagued by measurement ambiguities. New experiments demonstrate a breakthrough that improves sensitivity of such characterization by 5 orders of magnitude.

X-ray emission spectra reveal that under pressure conditions of Earth’s lower mantle, the compaction mechanism in amorphous germanium dioxide on the atomic scale is similar to that of its crystalline form.

Observations of long-distance magnon transport—the propagation of quantized spin waves—demonstrate that 2D van der Waals magnets could provide a platform for information and computing applications based on magnonics.

A single layer of the transition-metal oxide SrRuO${}_3$ remains magnetic and conductive when embedded in a lattice of SrTiO${}_3$, showing that SrRuO${}_3$ could be a promising material for spintronics applications.

By demonstrating precise control of the internal states of diatomic ytterbium molecules, new experiments demonstrate the potential for using ultracold molecules in a wide range of future quantum technologies.

A new model explains the origin and nature of the solid-fluid phase transition in biological tissues by taking into account the presence of five-cell junctions known as rosettes.

The nonalternant aromatic hydrocarbon azulene bonds much more strongly to copper than its alternant isomer naphthalene, illustrating the critical role of molecular topology in controlling metal-organic interfaces in electronic devices.

Lossless data compression provides a way to quantify the amount of order in equilibrium and nonequilibrium many-body systems, identifying and characterizing phase transitions even when the nature of the underlying order is unknown.

Infrared near-field imaging experiments reveal mesoscopic changes during an insulator-to-metal transition of a Mott insulator subject to a direct current, providing insight into how the electronic behavior of these materials can be electrically tuned.

In superconductors with strong spin-orbit coupling, magnetic ions could produce vortices that support robust Majorana zero modes without the need for an external magnetic field, a potentially powerful advantage for quantum computing.

A mathematical analysis reveals a lower bound for the quantum speed limit—the speed required to prepare a quantum state from some initial state.

Neutron scattering experiments reveal evidence of magnetic frustration as electrons gridlock in chromium-doped V${}_2$O${}_3$.

An electronically tunable metasurface can rotate the polarization angle of an incident polarized electromagnetic wave, showing promise for a new paradigm of real-time wave manipulation.

A relation between unidirectional waves in topological photonic materials and the underlying topology has deep roots to the thermally induced angular momentum of light, implying that the fluctuation-induced angular momentum density in a topological cavity is precisely quantized. 

New magnetic “superstructures” appear in an antiferromagnet with alternating atomic layers of triangular and honeycomb lattices, showcasing the role of spin fluctuations in determining novel magnetic properties.

A new theoretical framework shows how electron interactions can lead to the emergence of exotic pointlike and looplike quasiparticles in 3D materials.

A tailored metamaterial—which promises material properties beyond what nature can give us—exhibits a long-sought connection between some elastic-wave parameters, providing a new path to controlling wave propagation in artificial structures.

Photonic cavities provide a way to enhance interactions between dipoles. A new theoretical and experimental analysis provides design rules for optimizing this enhancement at microwave frequencies.

A new mathematical framework for describing large complex networks simplifies predictions of failure in the network, providing clear and concise insight into how catastrophic breakdowns occur.

A new mathematical framework for describing the electromagnetic near field provides upper limits for light-matter interactions in this complex region regardless of material shape and composition.

A new technique for studying interactions between light and metals provides insight into how some electrons are excited by incoming photons, overturning a more than 20-year-old accepted model.

A new approach to measuring ultrafast atomic and molecular behavior with an x-ray free-electron laser offers subfemtosecond time resolution—an order of magnitude improvement over current methods—while also simplifying the setup.

Miniature models of a novel type of laser-based particle accelerator could boost research on future high-energy colliders.

Periodically driven systems can be the gateway to new states of matter, but they might be subject to violent heating during their early-time evolution. Experiments with a shaken Bose-Einstein condensate not only confirm this prediction but also find additional heating beyond that suggested by current theories.

A method for visualizing the evolving concentration of water in an ionic liquid reveals a new solute diffusion mechanism, which could greatly accelerate the development of designer solvents.

Dense glassy material composed of hard disks display a surprisingly complex organization of the free-energy landscape that is reminiscent of the hierarchical organization of phase space first discovered in spin glasses 40 years ago.

Experiments and simulations reveal distinct regimes of electron behavior in plasma generated by ultraintense laser light hitting a solid target, a key insight for interpreting future experiments that rely on extreme laser pulses.

Experiments show the onset of self-organized supersolid behavior in droplets of a quantum dipolar gas, a phase of matter where the gas simultaneously forms a superfluid and a spatially ordered state.

A shaken Bose-Einstein condensate generates not only repeatable wave patterns known as Faraday waves, but also unexpected grains that may arise from shaking-induced quantum correlations.

Optical dissipation imparts an ultimate sensitivity limit for gravitational-wave interferometers, regardless of configuration—a key insight for the design of not only future facilities but also any quantum-limited optical device.

Optical experiments reveal chaotic behavior in light waves that may provide insight into the onset of many types of extreme nonlinear phenomena.

Scanning tunneling microscope observations reveal for the first time the discrete energy spectrum of a truly 1D conductor, providing a crucial tool for testing the limits of the Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid theory that describes interacting electrons.

Understanding how self-replicating DNA arose from an enormous pool of random nucleotides is central to the origin of life. New experiments show how nonlinear replication from primitive strands of nucleotides might have narrowed that pool.

A new technique for loading atoms into an optical trap does so with 90% efficiency in traps much shallower than in standard techniques, enabling efficient preparation of large, ordered single-atom arrays that are key for large-scale quantum simulation and computation.

Experiments reveal a new electron phase—and shed light on a previously identified one—in graphite that is subject to strong magnetic fields, a step towards better understanding the fate of 3D electron gases under similar conditions.