condensed-matter

Theorists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign address an experimental paradox by developing a general theory uniting a kind of order known as electronic nematicity with a crystal's elasticity.

Soft matter or soft condensed matter is a type of matter that can be deformed or structurally altered by thermal or mechanical stress which is of similar magnitude to thermal fluctuations . The science of soft matter is a subfield of condensed matter physics ... Read more

Nature Communications, Published online: 04 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-72512-7 A Monte Carlo Potts model was developed to simulate solidification and grain growth within a single algorithm with low computational cost. The model can quantitatively describe solidification behavior and microstructural morphology across scales.

Reasoning in semiconductor design. The post From Simulation Checkpoints To Continuous Physics appeared first on Semiconductor Engineering .

Every time a clinician runs a probe across a pregnant abdomen, a remarkable act of physics plays out in the tip of that device. The material inside converts electricity into vibration so precisely that it can sketch a face before birth. These materials, called relaxor ferroelectrics, have powered ultrasound scanners, sonar systems, and microphones for decades. And yet, right up until last week, n…

_Zenodo_ 1. 2026This paper develops a conservative exploratory route within the Relational Zero State framework for assessing whether relational tension can support particle-like structures. The main result is negative in its first stage and constructive in its second. Pure relational tension, modeled through weighted graph dynamics and Laplacian modes, produces criticality, localization, and par…

Nature Physics, Published online: 01 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s41567-026-03241-3 Symmetry rules usually prevent interactions between distinct vibrational modes. Now it is shown that charge order fluctuations can mix modes, enhancing the chiral lattice response in a ferroaxial electronic crystal.

Despite outward appearances, the internal workings of ice giants like Uranus and Neptune are extremely chaotic. Pressures millions of times greater than Earth’s sea level combine with temperatures in the thousands of degrees to make some pretty weird materials. Now, a new paper from researchers at the Carnegie Institution, published in Nature Communications, describes a completely new state of ma…

On hidden/emergent supersymmetry in fractional quantum Hall systems (cf. SuSy between Laughlin and Moore-Read states and for a similar phenomenon cf. also hadron supersymmetry). The density-wave excitations above the topological ground state of 2D electron gases in fractional quantum Hall systems exhibit an and in the long-wavelength limit are described by an The use of supergeometry in the descr…

An experiment with a carbon material in a magnetic field has revealed a novel way for electrons to move, which doesn't fully belong in two or three spatial dimensions

Nature, Published online: 29 April 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10471-1 The experimental observation of a fundamentally new type of anomalous Hall effect that couples both in-plane and out-of-plane orbital magnetizations in multilayer rhombohedral graphene is reported.

Nature Physics, Published online: 29 April 2026; doi:10.1038/s41567-026-03275-7 Tuning symmetry breaking in magnetic transitions via twist-angle engineering is challenging, as twisted two-dimensional magnets often inherit the magnetic ground states of their constituent parts. Now this tunability is achieved in a double-bilayer moiré magnet.

This paper proposes a radical axiomatic framework for physics—the LC-R (Leech Lattice - Rate of Hysteresis) model—designed to resolve fundamental dilemmas such as UV divergence and the Mass Gap problem inherent in continuous manifold-based gauge theories. We depart from the traditional assumption of differentiable spacetime, adopting the 24-dimensional Leech Lattice ($\Lambda_{24}$) as the "hard-…

On Laughlin wavefunctions with even exponents as describing FQH effects in rotating Bose-Einstein condensates with repulsive contact interaction: Nicolas Regnault, Th. Jolicoeur: Quantum Hall Fractions in Rotating Bose-Einstein Condensates, Phys. Rev. Lett. 91 (2003) 030402 [doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.91.030402] Nicolas Regnault, Th. Jolicoeur: Quantum Hall fractions for spinless bosons, Phys. Rev. …

Researchers have, for the first time, directly visualized how electronic patterns known as charge density waves evolve across a phase transition. Using cutting-edge microscopy, they found these patterns form unevenly, breaking into patches influenced by tiny structural distortions. Unexpectedly, small pockets of order persist even above the transition temperature. This reveals that electronic ord…

Physical Review B (PRB) manuscript status meanings, what 'awaiting referee report' means, time to first decision (12-16 weeks), and when to follow up.

Scientists keep detecting new forms of ice. According to simulations, there could be many more left to find. The post Physicists Discover the Most Complex Forms of Ice Yet first appeared on Quanta Magazine