In a paper published in Nature Physics, an international group of researchers comprised of an experimental team from Switzerland and France and theoretical physicists in Canada and the U.S., including Rice University, have found evidence of a quantum spin liquid in a material known as pyrochlore cerium stannate. They achieved this by combining state-of-the-art experimental techniques, including neutron scattering at extremely low temperatures, with theoretical analysis. By measuring the way in which neutrons interact magnetically with the electron spin in pyrochlore, the researchers observed the collective excitations of spins interacting strongly with lightlike waves.

Groundbreaking research in Engineering reveals a unified theory for optical singularities in photonic microstructures with rosette symmetries. The study, by a team of researchers, uncovers the symmetry-protected nature of these singularities and formulates a symmetry matching condition, opening doors to enhanced photonics applications.

Researchers have developed a 3D-printed device that generates twisting light beams with orbital angular momentum (OAM), a form of rotational energy that can carry more data than regular beams.

Non-reciprocal interactions can increase the order in an active system. This is the finding of a new study by scientists from the department of Living Matter Physics at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPI-DS). The researchers created a model to describe the emerging patterns depending on the amount of non-reciprocity in an active system.

Scientists from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IITG) have developed a surface material that repels water droplets almost completely. Using an entirely innovative process, they changed metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) – artificially designed materials with novel properties – by grafting hydrocarbon chains. The resulting superhydrophobic (extremely water-repellent) properties are interesting for use as self-cleaning surfaces that need to be robust against environmental influences, such as on automobiles or in architecture. The study was published in the Materials Horizons journal. (DOI: 10.1039/D4MH00899E)