Nature Physics

Nature Physics, Published online: 11 January 2021; doi:10.1038/s41567-020-01132-9

Physicists and biologists have different conceptions of beauty. A better appreciation of these differences may bring the disciplines closer and help develop a more integrated view of life.

Nature Physics, Published online: 11 January 2021; doi:10.1038/s41567-020-01133-8

Biophysicists have long sought to probe the physical properties of the cell nucleus, but the sheer size of this tiny organelle puts limits on its exploration. The coarsening of biomolecular droplets looks set to give us the inside scoop.

Nature Physics, Published online: 11 January 2021; doi:10.1038/s41567-020-01129-4

In twisted bilayer graphene, the moiré potential, strong electron–electron interactions and a magnetic field conspire to split the flat band into topologically non-trivial subbands.

Nature Physics, Published online: 11 January 2021; doi:10.1038/s41567-020-01124-9

Resonant excitation of phonons by a laser pulse switches the magnetization of a thin yttrium iron garnet film. This particular combination of longitudinal optical phonons results in a quadrupolar pattern, but this could be tailored in the future.

Nature Physics, Published online: 11 January 2021; doi:10.1038/s41567-020-01125-8

Biomolecules in the cell nucleus form condensates at a rate slower than that predicted by the theory of droplet growth. Experiments on living cells attribute this anomalous coarsening behaviour to subdiffusive dynamics in the crowded nucleus.

Nature Physics, Published online: 08 January 2021; doi:10.1038/s41567-020-01146-3

Bigger is better

Nature Physics, Published online: 08 January 2021; doi:10.1038/s41567-020-01145-4

Explained by the membrane

Nature Physics, Published online: 08 January 2021; doi:10.1038/s41567-020-01143-6

Reconsider the bacterium

Nature Physics, Published online: 08 January 2021; doi:10.1038/s41567-020-01138-3

Simulations are as much a part of science as hypothesis and experiment. But can their outcomes be considered observations? Wendy S. Parker investigates.

Nature Physics, Published online: 06 January 2021; doi:10.1038/s41567-020-01151-6

Along with five other journals in the Nature Portfolio, Nature Physics will pilot a new Guided Open Access trial in 2021. We explain how it works.

Nature Physics, Published online: 04 January 2021; doi:10.1038/s41567-020-01074-2

Iridescent mother of pearl sports a complex structure that eludes standard imaging techniques. Now, a nanotomographic method provides high resolution 3D insight into the topological defects underpinning this composite material.

Nature Physics, Published online: 04 January 2021; doi:10.1038/s41567-020-01140-9

#BlackInPhysics Week aimed to build community among physicists by celebrating, supporting and increasing the visibility of Black physicists. The week accomplished all of this, and more.

Nature Physics, Published online: 04 January 2021; doi:10.1038/s41567-020-01103-0

A Cooper-pair box qubit is used to squeeze the energy of a heavy oscillating membrane towards a quantum energy eigenstate, bringing measurements of how mass and quantum mechanics interact one step closer.

Nature Physics, Published online: 04 January 2021; doi:10.1038/s41567-020-01131-w

Measuring a quantum state often enough can leave you with a completely different phase of matter. Mix in competing measurements and you may find yourself with an entire phase diagram of dynamical quantum states and transitions.

Nature Physics, Published online: 04 January 2021; doi:10.1038/s41567-020-01117-8

A clever application of nuclear magnetic resonance techniques offers a glimpse at a quantum system driven at high frequency, resulting in Floquet prethermalization — a quasi-steady state that persists for a very long time.

Nature Physics, Published online: 04 January 2021; doi:10.1038/s41567-020-01076-0

In an analogue black hole in an atomic Bose–Einstein condensate, spontaneous Hawking radiation is confirmed to be stationary and the time evolution of Hawking radiation is reported.

Nature Physics, Published online: 04 January 2021; doi:10.1038/s41567-020-01069-z

Molluscs assemble layers of material in the shells around them with a high level of control. Here the authors observe the structural evolution of layer formation and propose a mechanism reminiscent of topological defect dynamics in liquid crystals.

Nature Physics, Published online: 04 January 2021; doi:10.1038/s41567-020-01128-5

Measurements of a superconducting infinite-layer nickelate show that its upper critical field is largely isotropic despite its quasi-two-dimensional structure. This indicates that, unusually for layered oxides, the superconductivity is Pauli-limited.

Nature Physics, Published online: 21 December 2020; doi:10.1038/s41567-020-01119-6

Manipulating weakly bound helium dimers with ultrafast laser pulses reveals their quantum behaviour. This method opens a route towards studying the low-energy dynamics of other exotic and fragile quantum states.

Nature Physics, Published online: 21 December 2020; doi:10.1038/s41567-020-01081-3

Ultrashort laser fields applied to a helium dimer are able to tune the interactions between two helium atoms. A video of the dimer’s response to this localized disturbance shows the effect of dissociation and alignment of the wave packets.