New research shows how Jupiter and Saturn developed dramatically different vortices at their north poles. The findings may elucidate not only the planets’ surface weather patterns but also what lies beneath the clouds, within the planetary interiors. 

Physicists have uncovered a link between magnetism and a mysterious phase of matter called the pseudogap, which appears in certain quantum materials just above the temperature at which they become superconducting. The findings could help researchers design new materials with sought-after properties such as high-temperature superconductivity, in which electric current flows without resistance.

Quantum key distribution (QKD) uses quantum mechanics to ensure secure communication between two parties. Despite being one of the most performance degrading factors, pointing error has not been comprehensively investigated in previous studies. Now, researchers present a new framework for understanding the effects of pointing error on key QKD performance metrics, offering valuable insights for practical deployment.

For the first time, researchers from Tokyo University of Science have observed wave-like interference patterns from positronium, a short-lived exotic atom made of an electron and a positron. They generated a high-quality, laser-based positronium beam and passed it through graphene layers to observe clear diffraction. The results confirm positronium’s wave nature and pave the way for precision measurements, antimatter studies, and advanced quantum research.

Hydrogen, a clean energy source, requires a highly reliable and safe storage system, which is currently lacking. Layered hydrogen silicane (L-HSi) is a promising, safe, lightweight, and energy-efficient solid-state hydrogen carrier with potential for practical utility. This material releases hydrogen when irradiated with low-intensity visible-light sources like sunlight or LEDs. L-HSi represents a new direction for hydrogen carrier system research.

What if you could create new materials just by shining a light them? To most, this sounds fantastical, but to physicists investigating Floquet engineering, this is the goal. With a periodic drive, like light, it’s possible to ‘dress up’ the electronic structure of any material, altering its fundamental properties – such as turning a simple semiconductor into a superconductor. While experimentally proven, light-driven Floquet requires strong drives that almost vaporize the material while achieving only modest effects. But researchers have now managed to achieve strong Floquet effect with a periodic drive just a fraction of the power required for modest light-driven Floquet – using excitons. This alternative method pavers the way to applied Floquet physics and thereby exciting novel quantum devices and applications.  

Sum-frequency generation (SFG) is a powerful vibrational spectroscopy that can selectively probe molecular structures at surfaces and interfaces, but its spatial resolution has been limited to the micrometer scale by the diffraction limit of light. Here, we overcame this limitation by utilizing a highly confined near field within a plasmonic nanogap and successfully extended the SFG spectroscopy into nanoscopic regime with ~10-nm spatial resolution. We also established a comprehensive theoretical framework that accurately describes the microscopic mechanisms of this near-field SFG process. These experimental and theoretical achievements collectively represent a groundbreaking advancement in near-field second-order nonlinear nanospectroscopy, enabling direct access to correlated chemical and topographic information of interfacial molecular systems at the nanoscale.