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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.
A general approach to derive direction-dependent complex refractive indices close to zero produces infinite families of time-reversible and infinite families of time-irreversible electromagnetic materials, without invoking the concept of topology.
Three-dimensional structures of vortex loops in a bulk micromagnet GdCo2 have been observed using X-ray magnetic nanotomography. The cross-section of these loops consists of a vortex–antivortex pair stabilized by the dipolar interaction.
Topological defects in active nematic systems such as epithelial tissues and neural progenitor cells can be associated with biological functions. Here, the authors show that defects can play a role in the layer formation of the soil bacterium Myxococcus xanthus.
Bacteria are able to move as vast, dense collectives. Here the authors show that slow movement is key to this collective behaviour because faster bacteria cause topological defects to collide together and trap cells in place.
Topological defects in the nematic order of actin fibres in a regenerating organism are shown to be tied to key feature formation. Fibre alignment sets the regenerated body axis and defect sites form organizing centres for the developing body plan.
High-harmonic generation up to the seventh harmonic is observed from the intrinsic three-dimensional topological insulator BiSbTeSe2. The parallel components of the even-order harmonics arise directly from the topological surface states.
The size-dependent lifetimes observed in the ultrafast molecular relaxation dynamics of an entire class of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons can be explained by correlation bands and electron–phonon scattering, reminiscent of solid-state systems.
Spin currents are generated from an antiferromagnet/heavy-metal heterostructure using optical excitation on picosecond timescales. This will have applications in antiferromagnetic spintronics.
Effects of nucleon–nucleon correlations are studied with the generalized contact formalism and ab initio quantum Monte Carlo calculations. For nuclei from deuteron to 40Ca, the many-body nuclear wave function is shown to factorize at short distances.
The coherence of a close-to-ideal laser beam can be quadratically better than what was believed to be the quantum limit. This new Heisenberg limit could be attained with circuit quantum electrodynamics.
Recently, a framework was introduced to model three-dimensional physical networks, such as brain or vascular ones, in a way that does not allow link crossings. Here the authors combine concepts from knot theory and statistical mechanics to be able to distinguish between physical networks with identical wiring but different layouts.
Energy–momentum phase-matching enables strong interactions between free electrons and light waves. As a result, the wavefunction of the electron exhibits a comb structure, which was observed using photon-induced near-field electron microscopy.
Active matter particles self-propel but controlling their direction of motion can be challenging. Here the authors place motile bacteria inside microdroplets and control their propulsion by exploiting the asymmetric director structure of the surrounding liquid crystal.
Stacking a monolayer and bilayer of graphene, with a small twist angle between them, creates a tunable platform where the physics of both twisted bilayer graphene and twisted double bilayer graphene can be realized.
Scale-invariant magnetic anisotropy in RuCl3 has been revealed through measurements of its magnetotropic coefficient, providing evidence for a high degree of exchange frustration that favours the formation of a spin liquid state.