Experiments show that light-induced dimerization can be used to control the connectivity of force-transmission linkages in cells, providing a new way to study how cells react to mechanical stimuli.

Light scattering measurements and high-performance computing enable mapping of complex nerve fiber organizations in the brain.

Experiments show that, contrary to long-held predictions, a Josephson junction in series with a large enough resistance does not become insulating at low temperature, thus forcing a reanalysis of quantum phase transitions in these and similar systems.

Experiments show that bacteria constantly alter their exploration states—frequent directional changes and persistent swimming—which could provide insight into the onset of infections and the dynamics of microbial communities.

An expanded consideration of the nondissipative viscosity finds new relationships between anisotropy, internal angular momentum, and Hall viscosity.

An experiment measures an individual electron spin with high fidelity and without demolishing it, thus setting the stage for robust quantum error correction with spin qubits in silicon.

Stable compounds made from helium and ammonia are predicted to form at the extreme pressures found inside Neptune and Uranus.

Thin, flexible sheets in many geometries exhibit a common transition as they are stressed.

Reconstructing a stochastic dynamical model from single noisy trajectories of complex Brownian systems is made possible by an efficient force inference technique.

A novel approach to analyzing neutron-scattering data offers a new way to probe magnetic order arising from higher-order electron multipoles.

Photons in certain materials can form massive, strongly interacting quasiparticles, giving rise to nonlinear effects that could be useful in quantum optics.

An enhanced version of quantum logic spectroscopy, used to map absorption and emission from single atoms, tolerates some ion motion and entangles several ions for improved sensitivity.

A light-induced phase transition in a Dirac material offers insight into how these materials respond to periodic driving (that is, quantum back-and-forth motion), information necessary for topology-based quantum computation and topological transistors.

A proposed scheme for creating a quantum superposition of atomic clocks at different heights offers a novel way of testing general relativity in the quantum regime.

Electric fields can control the stability of liquid foams, a versatile material used in many industrial applications that is otherwise difficult to stabilize or destabilize on demand.

The combination of computer simulations and two powerful experimental methods for following molecular change on femtosecond timescales offers an unprecedented view of how a photoexcited molecule breaks apart.

Using a new ultrafast sampling technique, experiments probe collisions between solitons in a resonator, revealing unique behavior that otherwise cannot be directly observed.

Experiments reveal that the high conductivity of delafossite oxide materials arises from an extreme degree of purity in their naturally grown crystal structures, a finding that aids the quest for ever-better conductors.

Mathematical tools for distinguishing open quantum systems that are chaotic from those that are exactly solvable fill an important gap in understanding dissipation and decoherence in scenarios relevant to quantum-based technologies.

A modern machine learning known as normalizing flow can automate cumbersome canonical transformations of Hamiltonian equations, thereby opening up this time-honored technique for studying dynamics to a wide array of complex systems.

A new solution to the phase-matching problem common to so-called traveling-wave parametric amplifiers is achieved with a simple design that’s easy to fabricate.

A new approach to describing the interplay between quantum mechanics, nonequilibrium driving, and dissipation could enable a paradigm shift in how bosonic systems are used in quantum-based technologies.

A new experiment reveals unexpected connections between a nonequilibrium phase transition in Rydberg gases and the way fires spread through a burning forest.

Experiments show for the first time the quantization of exciton energies in a 2D semiconductor exposed to a high magnetic field, setting the stage for explorations of quantized excitons in the presence of strong Coulomb interactions.

Surprising connections between surface conduction in certain topological materials and the quantum Hall effect point to a deep connection between topological physics in two and three dimensions.

By including nonlocal effects, a new theory provides an accurate description of the optical properties of nanostructures made of polar dielectrics—crystal semiconductors formed from polar molecules.

A difference in the relaxation timescales of competing orders in a system allows one to drive the system into metastable states not accessible in equilibrium.

Experiments measure, for the first time, two distinct contributions to the spin current in a magnetic insulator as well as the nonequilibrium magnon chemical potential, insight that can inform the development of spin-based technologies.

A new and unexpected ferromagnetic ground state emerges in highly strained thin films of a transition-metal oxide, shedding new light on electronic and magnetic properties that could be manipulated via strain engineering.

An array of highly excited “Rydberg atoms” generates an artificial gauge field, a crucial step for creating quantum simulations that rely on strongly interacting topological matter.

A mathematical analysis reveals that novel, long-lived nonequilibrium phases can arise in matter subjected to an external quasiperiodic drive, hinting at unexplored richness in the phases of nonequilibrium matter.

Modeling work shows that a puzzling transformation in cuprates optimally doped for the highest superconductivity temperature is tied to a quantum phase transition.

X-ray scattering produces magnetic excitation spectra with unprecedented energy resolution in a quantum spin-liquid candidate material, providing crucial info for comparing measured spin correlations with theory.

The random motion of oil droplets in water is caused by the flow of surfactants at the interface, a finding that gives rise to a broadly tunable swimming system, akin to microorganisms, and allows us to study their self-organization.

Mathematical analysis of a model network of linked masses on springs reveals how complex patterns of directed energy motion can arise from random fluctuations.

String theory provides a microscopic description of the entropy of certain theoretical black holes—an important step toward understanding black hole thermodynamics.

A new single-photon detector minimizes false positives by ensuring that a qubit switches to its excited state if and only if a photon enters a microwave resonator.

A new proposal for dynamically manipulating the polarization of a light wave brings this ability to various nonlinear optical media and high-power lasers.

A rigorous analysis of one of the mathematical workhorses used in density-functional-theory calculations provides exact definitions and relations that could help improve predictions of material and molecular properties.

Recent experiments with excited cold-atom gases emulate a gauge theory that describes 1D quantum electrodynamics, insight that could help with the development of tabletop experiments for probing extreme states of matter.

A chiral spin liquid—in which heat moves in one direction around the edge of the material—arises in a simple model of a prototypical quantum spin liquid, answering long-standing questions about these exotic states of matter.

An extension to wave turbulence theory shows that in a system of nonlinear waves, correlations among the waves arise, causing “ghost” excitations that lead to coherent structures in physical space.

An exponential suppression of heating has been observed in a periodically driven optical lattice, opening up an opportunity to engineer new states of matter.

An exact solution to the discrete diffusion equation allows for accurate predictions of how the probabilities of reaction diffusion processes evolve over time.

Optimal application of a magnetic field can increase the lifetime of transient time crystals by orders of magnitude, and autocorrelation functions can distinguish transient time crystals from infinitely long-lived ones.

A technique for analyzing complex networks can predict, with limited time-series data, critical transitions before they occur. Such insight could help model and predict changes in a neuronal network.

A new way of focusing waves creates a variety of new types of images that will be decisive for biomedical diagnosis in ultrasound imaging and optical microscopy, nondestructive evaluation in industry, and monitoring in geophysics.

Researchers exploit the peculiar structure of yttrium monoxide to cool the gas to ultralow temperatures and record-breaking densities.

By taking into account the wavelike nature of phonons, a new superlattice design minimizes heat conduction through the material and sets the stage for new avenues of phonon engineering.

A model of interacting quantum spins shows a new mechanism for localization of quantum information without the need for disorder.

A single electron released from within an oxygen molecule by an x-ray laser “illuminates” the molecule as it breaks up, providing a first-of-its-kind movie of nuclei separating.

A nitrogen-vacancy sensor with fully integrated signal enhancement by hyperpolarization boosts the sensitivity of nuclear magnetic resonance by more than 2 orders of magnitude, offering femtomole detection limits in picoliter volumes.

An approach to quantum computing with Rydberg atoms or superconducting qubits suggests using multiqubit gates, rather than one- and two-qubit gates, to reduce the number of operations and errors.

A new experiment implements a quantum eraser using phonons rather than light, erasing information about which path a phonon travels in an interferometer to recover the interference pattern.

The information encoded in a stochastic physical system sets a limit on how fast any thermodynamic observable can change, thus making a connection between the abstract concept of information and physical quantities such as heat and work.

A proposed quantum simulator could use Rydberg atoms carefully arranged with optical tweezers to simulate in real time how photons interact in two dimensions.

By carefully shaping radio frequency pulses, experiments show how to quickly and efficiently prepare a single atom in one of several desired states, a key ability for a variety of quantum technologies.

Sophisticated x-ray scattering experiments reveal charge dynamics in a model cuprate compound, providing crucial insight into the connection between high-temperature superconductivity and other electronic behaviors in these materials.

A quantum simulator uses microwave photons to tackle a useful chemistry problem—determining the vibronic spectra of molecules.

A theoretical analysis reveals key similarities and differences between two compounds known to exhibit high-temperature superconductivity, setting the stage for a better understanding of this enigmatic phenomenon.

By unifying two prominent theories of electron-phonon coupling, a new theoretical framework provides an efficient and realistic toolkit for improving the performance of organic-based semiconductors and superconductors.

The commonly used three-phonon approximation for describing phonon collisions in crystals can fail to describe heat transport in common materials, but including collisions among four phonons offers much better matches to measurements.

Using insights from statistical physics, a new approach to detecting quantum properties such as entanglement works for large systems and can be tailored to identify a wide variety of global collective properties.

Despite being driven by a different process, a system of self-propelling particles can evolve over time in a similar way to a turbulent fluid.

A new technique for detecting “squeezed” fluctuations does so in a single measurement, as opposed to tracking phase fluctuations over time, setting the stage for improved high-resolution sensing.

A new parameter optimization method for a hybrid quantum-classical algorithm shows how it can exploit novel mechanisms to speed up computational time by orders of magnitude.

Simulations show that disorder in arrangements of magnetic nanoparticles changes the nature and energy of their microscopic magnetic configurations in a profound way.

A new measure of complexity of multilayer networks shows that these systems can encode an optimal amount of additional information compared to their single-layer counterparts and provides a powerful tool for their analysis.

An experimental technique allows researchers to probe and utilize the properties of enigmatic multiexciton quintet states (with a spin of 2), a state that is otherwise difficult to study but has potential applications in spin-based technologies.

A proposed protocol for a one-way quantum repeater could enable robust long-distance quantum communication with significantly fewer resources than other proposals.