A new theoretical framework for plastic neural networks predicts dynamical regimes where synapses rather than neurons primarily drive the network’s behavior, leading to an alternative candidate mechanism for working memory in the brain.

A novel form of optical nonreciprocal dissipation engineering marks a milestone in the long-standing challenge of building practical on-chip isolators for photonic integrated circuits.

Certain motional modes in trapped-ion crystals are hard to cool. A technique to do so indirectly involves transferring motional quanta from these modes to ones that cool more efficiently.

A theoretical study of self-assembly finds that hexagon-shaped building blocks can form large structures faster than triangular or square blocks.

A new model describes the population of black hole binaries without assumptions on the shape of their distribution—a capability that could boost the discovery potential of gravitational-wave observations.

A novel theoretical framework unravels how processes in complex systems that occur at different timescales are coupled together at the functional level by sharing information.

A method of obtaining precise lower bounds on the minimum energy for quantum many-body systems with local interactions can be applied to a wide range of problems in quantum many-body physics.

Standard descriptions of phase separation in elastic systems fail to explain structural patterns that emerge. A new theory based on nonlocal elasticity successfully does so.

A numerical investigation has revealed a surprising correspondence between a lattice spin model and a quantum field theory.

A new formulation of non-Hermitian band theory is applicable to any number of spatial dimensions, a development useful for the study of physical effects exclusive to open systems.

A new mechanism to enhance the Nernst effect—wherein heat flow in a solid is converted to voltage—via magnetic fluctuations may lead to new applications in energy-harvesting devices.

Spin liquids are intrinsically difficult to prepare, observe, and characterize, but carefully designed multilayer structures in 2D materials may overcome these obstacles.

A minimal model describes the emergence of traveling and oscillating states, unifying a broad range of multicomponent systems where effective interactions violate Newton’s third law.

A quantum spin-1/2 chain model with kinetic constraints that trigger jamming of its quasiparticles reveals a potential way to explore quantum properties in some systems on a macroscopic scale.

Using the electric field of a laser pulse to rapidly shake the atoms in a material can stabilize a ferroelectric state, a proposal that extends the concept of “Kapitza engineering” to quantum critical points.

An extended theory of electrical transport illuminates how light is emitted when an electrical current flows through a metal-insulator-metal tunneling junction.

A new quantum memory, based on a neutral-atom cloud, demonstrates the ability to manipulate a large stream of optical qubits and to support key applications essential to future, large-scale quantum networks.

Cat qubits—a promising route for quantum error correction—can be stabilized with engineered dissipation. A method for increasing the dissipation rate shows greater resiliency of such a qubit to bit-flip errors.

Calorimetry experiments with optical beams in multimode fibers reveal that “heat” flows only from a hotter photon gas to a colder one, showing that nonlinear beam propagation respects the second law of thermodynamics.

In organic semiconductors, charge carriers may form delocalized or localized quasiparticles depending on molecular properties and environmental effects. Here, it is shown how structural and electrostatic disorder induce localization.

A proposed experiment could bring scientists closer to answering the long-standing question of whether gravity is a classical or a quantum phenomenon.

Describing electron-phonon interactions from first principles requires matrices with billions of entries. A method to compress the matrices accelerates calculations by 2 orders of magnitude while preserving accuracy.

Researchers record the longest Rydberg-atom lifetime by placing strontium atoms in “circular” states, where the outer electrons move in planet-like orbits.

In its superconducting state, an exotic metal harbors charge carriers that appear to have 4 and 6 times the charge of a single electron, suggesting the formation of Cooper-pair “molecules.”

A new framework provides the key ingredients for understanding the fundamental relationship between a computational task with an uncertain run-time and the energetic resources needed to implement it.

Solids sometimes retain a memory of their processing history, thus altering their bulk properties. New experiments demonstrate how to exploit this behavior in flowing systems.

Exact solutions for the steady state of two spin-chain models provides an experimentally friendly scheme for efficiently stabilizing large entangled states between remote systems.

A network-theory-based framework for describing quantum mechanical wave functions enables the discovery of a very deep inner structure—that of a scale-free network.

Modifications to the fermionic neural network allow it to tackle studies of a unitary Fermi gas with unrivaled accuracy, suggesting the architecture can also be used to study other strongly correlated systems such as exotic superfluids and superconductors.

A combination of twistronics, hyperbolic shear phenomena, and metasurface concepts provides a powerful tool for reconfiguring and steering the propagation of hyperbolic waves.

Researchers discovered a trick for dragging an object in a fluid with minimal effort.

Group theory and first-principles calculations combine to predict which antiferromagnets have potentially useful net surface magnetization.

New connections between constrained systems and computational complexity theory provide insights into how constraints impact thermalization.

Characterization of ”$4f$ hole states” in the molecule YbF provides information needed for trapping such molecules, which in turn can be used for tests of physics beyond the standard model.

Machine-learned interatomic potentials (MLIPs) are already a powerful tool for simulating atomic interactions. Including basis functions on graphs makes MLIPs physically and chemically transparent and even more accurate and efficient.

Statistical properties of fluctuations of certain parameters describing a complex system can reveal when that system is approaching a tipping point.

An experiment puts limits on how much quantum vacuum fluctuations can alter the quantized Hall resistance in a 2D electron gas under a magnetic field.

Applying the physics of spin glasses to a multiplayer economic game shows that agents never reach collectively optimal strategies even when they learn from past outcomes.

Measuring certain quantum states with short-range entanglement can give rise to long-range entanglement, an insight with direct practical significance for preparing exotic many-body states in quantum devices.

A new technique for measuring the magnetic properties of metals within cells provides a powerful tool for studying how metal accumulation in cells leads to certain diseases.

The first comprehensive theoretical study of the finite magnetic field phase diagram of twisted bilayer graphene provides an in-depth tool kit for analyzing experimental data on Chern insulating states.

Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy of an iron-based superconductor resolves debates about its electronic structure and confirms the existence of topological superconductivity in this material.

In the study of deconfined quantum critical points, the “fuzzy sphere” can act as a powerful microscope, magnifying and revealing a wealth of crucial information.

Observations of spin spatial oscillations reveal a previously hidden behavior of spin transport dynamics and identify a new degree of freedom for manipulating spin current, with potential implications for spintronic devices.

Electric transport measurements on antiferromagnetic FeSn show that an anisotropic Berry curvature distribution can induce a third-order nonlinear anomalous Hall effect.

The abrupt onset of electrical breakdown could serve as a unique “smoking gun” bit of evidence of elusive excitonic insulator states: insulators that originate from electron-hole pairings.

Measurements of the electronic band structure in CeRh${}_2$As${}_2$ reveal coexisting features that may provide insight into its unusual, complex phase diagram.

The quantized transport of particles usually requires sliding two lattices, which is difficult to do precisely. A new method realizes such a “Thouless pump” by instead tuning interparticle interactions.

A simple model based on network theory can reproduce the complex structures seen in urban transportation networks.

A liquid-like spreading of metal atoms on a topological material can generate a superconductor—one that might benefit quantum computing.

A field theory to describe systems driven out of thermal equilibrium hints at several unusual behaviors, such as time crystalline order, that could not exist in equilibrium yet can be realized rather simply.

Given the symmetry properties of a quantum material, a new systematic framework can classify all the types of topological quantum spin liquids that can be realized in that material.