Phys.org Physics

• Hunting for dark matter axions with a quantum-powered haloscope

  Axions are hypothetical light particles that could solve two different physics problems, as they could explain why some nuclear interactions don't violate time symmetry and are also promising dark matter candidates. Dark matter is a type of matter that does not emit, reflect or absorb light, and has never been directly observed before.

• Dual-cation strategy boosts upconversion efficiency in stable oxide perovskites

  Researchers at the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed a new way to significantly enhance upconversion luminescence in oxide perovskites, a class of materials known for their thermal and chemical stability but limited optical efficiency.

• How do I make clear ice at home? A food scientist shares easy tips

  When you splurge on a cocktail in a bar, the drink often comes with a slab of aesthetically pleasing, perfectly clear ice. The stuff looks much fancier than the slightly cloudy ice you get from your home freezer. How do they do this?

• New optical method reveals micellar structure changes under extensional stress

  Complex fluids, such as polymer melts and concentrated suspensions, are foundational materials for industrial products, including high-strength plastics and optical components. The final performance of these materials depends on their composition and internal microscopic structure. During manufacturing processes, however, fluids are subjected to mechanical forces that introduce internal stress, leading to microscopic structural damage, which in turn affects the material's functionality.

• Josephson junction behavior observed with only one superconductor and iron barrier

  Separate two superconductors with a thin layer of material and something strange happens.

• New materials, old physics—the science behind how your winter jacket keeps you warm

  As the weather grows cold this winter, you may be one of the many Americans pulling their winter jackets out of the closet. Not only can this extra layer keep you warm on a chilly day, but modern winter jackets are also a testament to centuries-old physics and cutting-edge materials science.

• Twisted light-matter systems unlock unusual topological phenomena

  Properties that remain unchanged when materials are stretched or bent, which are broadly referred to as topological properties, can contribute to the emergence of unusual physical effects in specific systems.

• New model showcases microbubble behavior in viscoelastic fluid under ultrasound forcing

  Encapsulated microbubbles (EMBs), tiny gas-filled bubbles coated in lipid or protein shells, play a central role in biomedical ultrasound. When exposed to ultrasound waves, EMBs contract, resulting in oscillations that enhance image contrast or deliver drugs directly by creating pores in cell membranes via sonoporation. However, while promising for biomedical applications, their behavior is far more complex.

• New method uses spin motion to control heat flow in magnetic materials

  NIMS, in joint research with the University of Tokyo, AIST, the University of Osaka, and Tohoku University, have proposed a novel method for actively controlling heat flow in solids by utilizing the transport of magnons—quasiparticles corresponding to the collective motion of spins in a magnetic material—and demonstrated that magnons contribute to heat conduction in a ferromagnetic metal and its junction more significantly than previously believed.

• Using microwave pulses to plug leaks in quantum computers makes them more reliable

  Scientists have developed a new approach to correcting common quantum computing errors, which could pave the way for more reliable systems.

• Researchers discover a new superfluid phase in non-Hermitian quantum systems

  A stable "exceptional fermionic superfluid," a new quantum phase that intrinsically hosts singularities known as exceptional points, has been discovered by researchers at the Institute of Science Tokyo.

• Evidence of a quantum spin liquid ground state in a kagome material

  Quantum spin liquids are exotic states of matter in which spins (i.e., the intrinsic angular momentum of electrons) do not settle into an ordered pattern and continue to fluctuate, even at extremely low temperatures. This state is characterized by high entanglement, a quantum effect that causes particles to become linked so that the state of one affects the others' states, even over long distances.

• Detecting the hidden magnetism of altermagnets

  Altermagnets are a newly recognized class of antiferromagnets whose magnetic structure behaves very differently from what is found in conventional systems. In conventional antiferromagnets, the sublattices are linked by simple inversion or translation, resulting in spin-degenerate electronic bands. In altermagnets, however, they are connected by unconventional symmetries such as rotations or screw axes. This shift in symmetry breaks the spin degeneracy, allowing for spin-polarized electron currents even in the absence of net magnetization.

• Ultracold atoms observed climbing a quantum staircase

  For the first time, scientists have observed the iconic Shapiro steps, a staircase-like quantum effect, in ultracold atoms.

• Research uncovers the telltale tail of black hole collisions

  When black holes collide, the impact radiates into space like the sound of a bell in the form of gravitational waves. But after the waves, there comes a second reverberation—a murmur that physicists have theorized but never observed.

• New image sensor breaks optical limits

  Imaging technology has transformed how we observe the universe—from mapping distant galaxies with radio telescope arrays to unlocking microscopic details inside living cells. Yet despite decades of innovation, a fundamental barrier has persisted: capturing high-resolution, wide-field images at optical wavelengths without cumbersome lenses or strict alignment constraints.

• Ultrafast fluorescence pulse technique enables imaging of individual trapped atoms

  Researchers at the ArQuS Laboratory of the University of Trieste (Italy) and the National Institute of Optics of the Italian National Research Council (CNR-INO) have achieved the first imaging of individual trapped cold atoms in Italy, introducing techniques that push single-atom detection into new performance regimes.

• Journey to the center of a quantized vortex: How microscopic mutual friction governs superfluid dissipation

  Step inside the strange world of a superfluid, a liquid that can flow endlessly without friction, defying the common-sense rules we experience every day, where water pours, syrup sticks and coffee swirls and slows under the effect of viscosity. In these extraordinary fluids, motion often organizes itself into quantized vortices: tiny, long-lived whirlpools that act as the fundamental building blocks of superfluid flow.

• New reactor produces clean energy and carbon nanotubes from natural gas

  Scientists from the University of Cambridge have developed a new reactor that converts natural gas (a common energy source primarily composed of methane) into two highly valuable resources: clean hydrogen fuel and carbon nanotubes, which are ultralight and much stronger than steel.

• Raindrops form 'sandballs' as they roll downhill, contributing more to erosion than previously thought

  What happens as a raindrop impacts bare soil has been fairly well-studied, but what happens to raindrops afterward is poorly understood. We know that the initial splash of raindrops on soil contributes to erosion, but a new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, finds that the journey of the raindrop downhill might have an even bigger impact on erosion than the initial splash.

• Promising new superconducting material discovered with the help of AI

  Tohoku University and Fujitsu Limited have successfully used AI to derive new insights into the superconductivity mechanism of a new superconducting material.

• Rare Hall effect reveals design pathways for advanced spintronic materials

  Scientists at Ames National Laboratory, in collaboration with Indranil Das's group at the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics (India), have found a surprising electronic feature in transitional metal-based compounds that could pave the way for a new class of spintronic materials for computing and memory technologies.

• Why a chiral magnet is a direction-dependent street for electrons

  RIKEN physicists have discovered for the first time why the magnitude of the electron flow depends on direction in a special kind of magnet. This finding could help to realize future low-energy devices.

• How does Santa do it all? Quantum physics, that's how, says scientist

  Every year, Santa Claus races around the globe in a matter of hours to bring presents to children all over the world.

• Anything-goes 'anyons' may be at the root of surprising quantum experiments

  In the past year, two separate experiments in two different materials captured the same confounding scenario: the coexistence of superconductivity and magnetism. Scientists had assumed that these two quantum states are mutually exclusive; the presence of one should inherently destroy the other.