Nature Physics
Complexity of crack front geometry enhances toughness of brittle solids
Nature Physics, Published online: 22 March 2024; doi:10.1038/s41567-024-02435-x
Experiments probing three-dimensional crack propagation show that the critical strain energy needed to drive a crack is directly proportional to its geodesic length. This insight is a step towards a fully three-dimensional theory of crack propagation.Protons on the line
Nature Physics, Published online: 20 March 2024; doi:10.1038/s41567-023-02344-5
Stable regions in four-dimensional phase space have been observed by following the motion of accelerated proton beams subject to nonlinear forces. This provides insights into the physics of dynamical systems and may lead to improved accelerator designs.Observation of fixed lines induced by a nonlinear resonance in the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron
Nature Physics, Published online: 20 March 2024; doi:10.1038/s41567-023-02338-3
Nonlinear resonances can cause particle loss in accelerators. Experiments confirm that a coupled nonlinear resonance traps beam particles on a four-dimensional closed curve. This finding allows the development of mitigation strategies.Melting of the charge density wave by generation of pairs of topological defects in UTe<sub>2</sub>
Nature Physics, Published online: 20 March 2024; doi:10.1038/s41567-024-02429-9
A mechanism for the phase transition of charge density wave states via the generation and proliferation of topological defects with opposite phase windings is demonstrated in a heavy-fermion superconductor.Flexoelectricity-driven toroidal polar topology in liquid-matter helielectrics
Nature Physics, Published online: 18 March 2024; doi:10.1038/s41567-024-02439-7
Exploring and exploiting electric dipole arrangements analogously to what is possible with magnetic spin textures is an emerging prospect. Now a spontaneous toroidal polar topology is observed in ferroelectric liquid crystals.Fruity blues
Nature Physics, Published online: 14 March 2024; doi:10.1038/s41567-024-02450-y
Fruity bluesBatter quality
Nature Physics, Published online: 14 March 2024; doi:10.1038/s41567-024-02449-5
Batter qualityThe air temperature conundrum
Nature Physics, Published online: 14 March 2024; doi:10.1038/s41567-024-02428-w
Measuring air temperature is far from a trivial task, as Andrea Merlone, Graziano Coppa and Chiara Musacchio explain.Honesty is being put through the mill
Nature Physics, Published online: 14 March 2024; doi:10.1038/s41567-024-02430-2
Honesty is being put through the millComputing in physics education
Nature Physics, Published online: 14 March 2024; doi:10.1038/s41567-023-02371-2
Computing is central to the enterprise of physics but few undergraduate physics courses include it in their curricula. Here we discuss why and how to integrate computing into physics education.Racial equity in physics education research
Nature Physics, Published online: 14 March 2024; doi:10.1038/s41567-024-02424-0
Injustices and oppression are pervasive in society, including education. An intersectional, equity-oriented approach can help remove systemic obstacles and improve the experience of marginalized people in physics education through decolonial and critical race lenses.Unlock the potential of a physics education
Nature Physics, Published online: 14 March 2024; doi:10.1038/s41567-024-02458-4
This month in Nature Physics, we publish a Focus issue that highlights the importance of physics education research.A physics curriculum for the modern world
Nature Physics, Published online: 14 March 2024; doi:10.1038/s41567-023-02370-3
Increasingly, physics graduates take jobs outside academia. Active teaching approaches lead to deeper conceptual understanding and a more varied skill set and are therefore more likely to prepare students for successful careers.Manipulation of chiral interface states in a moiré quantum anomalous Hall insulator
Nature Physics, Published online: 13 March 2024; doi:10.1038/s41567-024-02444-w
The local electronic structure of interface states between topologically distinct domains is imaged and controlled, allowing visualization of the interplay between strong interactions and non-trivial topology.Superconducting stripes induced by ferromagnetic proximity in an oxide heterostructure
Nature Physics, Published online: 11 March 2024; doi:10.1038/s41567-024-02443-x
Copper-based and iron-based compounds exhibit an interplay between magnetism and superconductivity. Now, this idea is extended to two-dimensional oxide heterostructures, where a spatially varying superconducting order is demonstrated at the EuO/KTaO3 interface.Demonstration and imaging of cryogenic magneto-thermoelectric cooling in a van der Waals semimetal
Nature Physics, Published online: 08 March 2024; doi:10.1038/s41567-024-02417-z
Cooling efficiency in thermoelectric devices decreases considerably at lower temperatures. Now thermoelectric cooling at cryogenic temperatures is directly imaged in a van der Waals semimetal.Topological lasing demonstrated in the mode-locked regime
Nature Physics, Published online: 07 March 2024; doi:10.1038/s41567-024-02421-3
The concept of temporal mode-locking has been leveraged to study the interplay between laser mode-locking and photonic lattices that exhibit non-Hermitian topological phenomena. The results suggest new opportunities to study nonlinear and non-Hermitian topological physics as well as potential applications to sensing, optical computing and frequency-comb design.Terahertz magnon algebra
Nature Physics, Published online: 07 March 2024; doi:10.1038/s41567-024-02427-x
Excitation of magnons — quanta of spin-waves — in an antiferromagnet can be used for high-speed data processing. The addition and subtraction of two such modes opens up possibilities for magnon-based information transfer in the terahertz spectral region.Efficient learning of many-body systems
Nature Physics, Published online: 06 March 2024; doi:10.1038/s41567-024-02393-4
The Hamiltonian describing a quantum many-body system can be learned using measurements in thermal equilibrium. Now, a learning algorithm applicable to many natural systems has been found that requires exponentially fewer measurements than existing methods.Protecting entanglement between logical qubits via quantum error correction
Nature Physics, Published online: 06 March 2024; doi:10.1038/s41567-024-02446-8
Despite being essential to many applications in quantum science, entanglement can be easily disrupted by decoherence. A protocol based on repetitive quantum error correction now demonstrates enhanced coherence times of entangled logical qubits.Pages
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