Condensed-matter physics

For decades Z-X Shen has ridden a wave of curiosity about the strange behavior of electrons that can levitate magnets.

Theory suggests that quantum critical points may be analogous to black holes as places where all sorts of strange phenomena can exist in a quantum material. Now scientists are trying to pin down where this particular quantum critical point might...

Researchers developed a way to measure the basic properties of matter at the highest pressures thus far achieved in a controlled laboratory experiment.

New research could offer insights into the formation of planets like Earth and inform the design of more resilient materials.

It could offer insights into the evolution of planetary systems and guide scientists hoping to harness nuclear fusion as a new source of energy.

Learning how liquid silicates behave at these extreme temperatures and pressures has been a longstanding challenge in the geosciences.

The advance opens a path toward a new generation of logic and memory devices that could be 10,000 times faster than today's.

Turning a brittle oxide into a flexible membrane and stretching it on a tiny apparatus flipped it from a conducting to an insulating state and changed its magnetic properties. The technique can be used to study and design a broad...

Discovered at SLAC and Stanford, this new class of unconventional superconductors is starting to give up its secrets – including a surprising 3D metallic state.

It reveals an abrupt transition in cuprates where particles give up their individuality. The results flip a popular theory on its head.

Computer simulations yield a much more accurate picture of these states of matter.

Chemist Ben Ofori-Okai investigates what happens to matter under extreme conditions at microscopic scales to better understand its behavior at massive scales, such as what happens in the Earth’s core.