Collective models have long provided an essential framework for understanding the behaviour of atomic nuclei by treating them as systems of interacting particles that can exhibit coherent, macroscopic ...

Physicists with the U.S. Department of Energy have discovered a new phase of matter—and, with apologies to George R. R. Martin, it's something of "a song of ice and fire." The new phase comes in the ...

Directly observing the atomic rearrangement in ferroelectric semiconductor In₂Se₃ paves the way for developing stable and ...

A new study published in Physical Review Letters explores the possibility that a strongly supercooled, first-order phase transition in the early universe could explain gravitational wave signals ...

A team of researchers reported the first direct observation of a surprising quantum phenomenon predicted over half a century ago known as a superradiant phase transition, which occurs when two groups ...

Quantum phase transitions and topological phases constitute a vibrant domain within condensed matter physics. Unlike classical transitions driven by thermal fluctuations, quantum phase transitions ...

This image depicts the ultracold atomic quantum simulator. The red and blue balls represent the fermionic atoms with up and down spins, respectively, arranged in a staggered pattern in 3D space, ...

In 1935, Albert Einstein and Erwin Schrödinger, two of the most prominent physicists of the day, got into a dispute over the nature of reality. Einstein had done the math and knew that the universe ...

After decades of looking, researchers have seen a string of atoms go through a 1D phase change so elusive that it could only happen inside a quantum simulator. “One motivation [for our experiment] is ...

Princeton physicists have discovered an abrupt change in quantum behavior while experimenting with a three-atom-thin insulator that can be easily switched into a superconductor. The research promises ...

Phase changes -- Stability and instability -- Bifurcations and catastrophes -- Percolation -- Random graphs -- Life origins -- Virus dynamics -- Cell structure ...