Nature Physics, Published online: 31 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41567-025-02843-7
Assemblies of active particles display a range of dynamical phenomena. Simulations now show that the transition of an assembly of active particles from a jammed to a fluidized state is similar to the process of mechanical yielding seen in amorphous solids.
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- Yielding behaviour of active particles in bulk and in confinement
- Cooperative hydrodynamics accompany multicellular-like colonial organization in the unicellular ciliate <i>Stentor</i>Nature Physics, Published online: 31 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41567-025-02787-y How unicellular organisms evolved into multicellular ones is an open question. Now, using unicellular Stentor coeruleus as a model system, the transition between isolated individuals and a coordinated colony is shown to benefit all colony members.
- Thermopower probes of emergent local moments in magic-angle twisted bilayer grapheneNature Physics, Published online: 31 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41567-025-02849-1 It is well known that flat bands exist in magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene. Now thermopower measurements show that the strong correlations between electrons in these bands result in the formation of local moments.
- Direct observation of colloidal quasicrystallizationNature Physics, Published online: 31 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41567-025-02859-z Quasicrystals, which lack translational symmetry but display rotational order, are difficult to make. Now an assembly method for the fabrication of colloidal quasicrystals that offers a high degree of controllability and reversibility is reported.
- Circadian coupling orchestrates cell growthNature Physics, Published online: 31 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41567-025-02838-4 Circadian disruption can promote tumour formation. Now it is shown that the loss of circadian synchronization can drive this effect by disrupting the coupling between the circadian rhythm and the cell cycle within individual cells.
- Crystal-symmetry-paired spin–valley locking in a layered room-temperature metallic altermagnet candidateNature Physics, Published online: 31 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41567-025-02864-2 Spin-split bands and certain lattice symmetries are required to generate the spin currents needed for spintronics applications. Now a layered room-temperature antiferromagnet is shown to exhibit anisotropic spin splitting between valleys paired by a crystal symmetry.
- Optical control of an excitable enzyme circuit for engineering dynamic cell shapesNature Physics, Published online: 28 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41567-025-02810-2 Light-switchable enzymes hold great promise for mediating molecular activations in living cells, yet their full potential in realizing versatile controls in nonlinear networks remains unexplored. Now, optical control is demonstrated over a key enzyme involved in animal cell division, and a diverse array of dynamic cell shapes is achieved by biochemically hacking an endogenous signalling circuit.
- A qudit quantum computer for simulation of two-dimensional quantum electrodynamicsNature Physics, Published online: 28 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41567-025-02821-z Quantum electrodynamics (QED) is a cornerstone of the standard model of particle physics. A decade-long effort to simulate QED on a two-dimensional lattice has now succeeded — through the use of a trapped-ion quantum computer based on multidimensional ‘qudits’, which are uniquely suited to the challenge.
