Nature Physics

Integrate physics education research by fixing departmental structures

2026-09-17

Nadji Belkheiri, Alexander M. Gabovich, Volodymyr Kuznetsov

Weakly interacting spinons and tightly bound triplons in the frustrated quantum spin-Peierls chain

2026-09-16

Pyeongjae Park, Bo Xiao, Karolina Górnicka, Andrew F. May, Jiaqiang Yan, Ryoichi Kajimoto, Mitsutaka Nakamura, Matthew B. Stone, Gábor B. Halász, Andrew D. Christianson

A combination of one-dimensional magnetic frustration and three-dimensional lattice distortions causes the quantum magnet CuGeO3 to form a dimerized state. Now the authors demonstrate how this interplay affects fractionalized quasiparticles of CuGeO3.

Mechanisms of spatial pattern transition in motile bacterial collectives

2026-09-15

Jean-Baptiste Saulnier, Michèle Romanos, Jonathan Schrohe, Clémence Cuzin, Vincent Calvez, Tâm Mignot

Myxococcus xanthus is a bacterial predator that can transition between swarming and rippling behaviours. It is now shown that this transition occurs owing to a combination of local cellular alignment and cell reversal.

Microrotors make waves

2026-09-14

Martin Brandenbourger

Thousands of 3D-printed microscopic rotors spontaneously synchronize their motion when assembled into a lattice. Counterintuitively, small imperfections among individual motors drive the propagation of waves across such artificial active matter.

Criticality from competition

2026-09-14

Luisa Eck

Conformal field theories describe universal physics at quantum critical points, but it is hard to find microscopic models that realize particular field theories. Studying competing boundary conditions of topological phases provides a systematic way to build such models.

Generation of a high-intensity, superthermal muonium beam for gravity and laser spectroscopy experiments

2026-09-14

J. Zhang, A. Antognini, M. Bartkowiak, D. Goeldi, K. Kirch, A. Knecht, D. Taqqu, R. Waddy, F. Wauters, P. Wegmann, A. Soter

A high-intensity, superthermal beam is generated by extracting muonium from a thin layer of superfluid helium. This beam can be used for tests of gravity and laser spectroscopy.

An intense superthermal muonium beam

2026-09-14

Jian Tang, Shihan Zhao

Conventional sources of muonium — a bound state of a positively charged muon and an electron — produce diffuse thermal beams. Now an intense, superthermal muonium beam with a velocity distribution far narrower than existing sources has been achieved.

Electrification mechanisms in sliding liquid and frozen drops

2026-09-14

Rutvik Lathia, Benjamin Leibauer, Aaron D. Ratschow, Werner Steffen, Hans-Jürgen Butt

When sliding along an insulating surface, liquid drops become charged. Experiments with self-ionizing and non-polar liquids on different substrates suggest the competition of at least two underlying mechanisms.