CINXE.COM

<html class="no-js" lang="en"><head><script>(function(w,d,s,l,i){ w[l]=w[l]||[]; w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'}); var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0], j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:''; j.async=true;j.src= 'https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl; f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f); }) (window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-PNZNVC2P');</script><meta charset="utf-8" /><meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" name="viewport" /><title>Physics - spotlighting exceptional research</title><link href="//fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Source+Sans+Pro:400,600,400italic,600italic" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /><link href="//cdn.journals.aps.org/development/physics/stylesheets/app-c2fe3b58.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /><link href="//cdn.journals.aps.org/development/physics/images/icons/apple-touch-icon.png" rel="apple-touch-icon" /><link href="//cdn.journals.aps.org/development/physics/images/icons/apple-touch-icon-72x72.png" rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="72x72" /><link href="//cdn.journals.aps.org/development/physics/images/icons/apple-touch-icon-76x76.png" rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="76x76" /><link href="//cdn.journals.aps.org/development/physics/images/icons/apple-touch-icon-114x114.png" rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="114x114" /><link href="//cdn.journals.aps.org/development/physics/images/icons/apple-touch-icon-120x120.png" rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="120x120" /><link href="//cdn.journals.aps.org/development/physics/images/icons/apple-touch-icon-144x144.png" rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="144x144" /><link href="//cdn.journals.aps.org/development/physics/images/icons/apple-touch-icon-152x152.png" rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="152x152" /><link href="//cdn.journals.aps.org/development/physics/images/icons/apple-touch-icon-180x180.png" rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="180x180" /><link href="//cdn.journals.aps.org/development/physics/images/icons/favicon.ico" rel="icon" type="image/vnd.microsoft.icon" /><meta content="//cdn.journals.aps.org/development/physics/images/icons/mstile-144x144.png" name="msapplication-TileImage" /><script>(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){ (i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o), m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m) })(window,document,'script','//www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga'); ga('create', 'UA-3894348-16', 'auto'); ga('send', 'pageview');</script><meta content="authenticity_token" name="csrf-param" /><meta content="sOGamvABDIa_hGlvuq3IeveDM1qyffGpUFdxDz0NCkg=" name="csrf-token" /></head><body><noscript><iframe><src>https://www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-PNZNVC2P</src><height>0</height><width>0</width><style>display:none;visibility:hidden</style></iframe></noscript><nav class="aps-header top-bar" data-topbar=""><ul class="title-area"><li class="name"><a href="http://www.aps.org/" target="_self"><img alt="APS Logo" class="aps-logo" src="//cdn.journals.aps.org/development/physics/images/aps-logo.png" style="width: 45px;" /></a></li></ul><div class="top-bar-section"><ul class="left"><li class="has-dropdown"><a href="https://journals.aps.org"> Journals</a><ul class="dropdown"><li><a href="https://journals.aps.org/prl/">Physical Review Letters</a></li><li><a href="https://journals.aps.org/prx/">Physical Review X</a></li><li><a href="https://journals.aps.org/prxenergy/">PRX Energy</a></li><li><a href="https://journals.aps.org/prxquantum/">PRX Quantum</a></li><li><a href="https://journals.aps.org/rmp/">Reviews of Modern Physics</a></li><li><a href="https://journals.aps.org/pra/">Physical Review A</a></li><li><a href="https://journals.aps.org/prb/">Physical Review B</a></li><li><a href="https://journals.aps.org/prc/">Physical Review C</a></li><li><a href="https://journals.aps.org/prd/">Physical Review D</a></li><li><a href="https://journals.aps.org/pre/">Physical Review E</a></li><li><a href="https://journals.aps.org/prresearch/">Physical Review Research</a></li><li><a href="https://journals.aps.org/prab/">Physical Review Accelerators and Beams</a></li><li><a href="https://journals.aps.org/prapplied/">Physical Review Applied</a></li><li><a href="https://journals.aps.org/prfluids/">Physical Review Fluids</a></li><li><a href="https://journals.aps.org/prmaterials/">Physical Review Materials</a></li><li><a href="https://journals.aps.org/prper/">Physical Review Physics Education Research</a></li><li><a href="https://journals.aps.org/archive/">Physical Review</a></li><li><a href="https://journals.aps.org/archive/">Physical Review (Series I)</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="/" target="_self"> Physics Magazine</a></li><li><a href="http://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/"> APS News</a></li></ul><ul class="right"></ul></div></nav><header class="header"><div class="column-row"><a href="/" target="_self"><img alt="APS Physics" class="header-logo" src="//cdn.journals.aps.org/development/physics/images/logo.png" /></a><ul class="header-nav"><li><a href="/about" target="_self">About</a></li><li><a href="/browse/" target="_self">Browse</a></li><li><a href="https://journals.aps.org/press" target="_self">Press</a></li><li><a href="/collections" target="_self">Collections</a></li></ul><form action="/browse/" method="GET" style="display: inline"><input class="header-search" name="q" placeholder="Search articles" type="search" value="" /></form><div class="header-dropdown"><a aria-controls="searchDropdown" aria-expanded="false" data-dropdown="searchDropdown"><img alt="Search" src="//cdn.journals.aps.org/development/physics/images/icon-search-white.svg" /></a><div aria-hidden="true" class="medium f-dropdown content" data-dropdown-content="" id="searchDropdown" tabindex="-1"><form action="/browse/" method="get"><input name="q" placeholder="Search articles" type="search" value="" /></form></div></div></div></header><div class="mobile-nav"><div class="mobile-nav-apslogo"><a href="http://aps.org"><img src="//cdn.journals.aps.org/development/physics/images/aps-logo.png" /></a></div><div class="mobile-nav-physicslogo"><a href="/" target="_self"><img src="//cdn.journals.aps.org/development/physics/images/logo-dark.png" /></a><a class="mobile-nav-dropdown" data-menu="apsMenu"></a></div><div class="mobile-nav-menuicon" data-menu="physicsMenu"><img src="//cdn.journals.aps.org/development/physics/images/icon-menu.svg" /></div><ul class="mobile-menu" id="physicsMenu"><li><a href="/" target="_self"> Home</a></li><li><a href="/about" target="_self"> About</a></li><li><a href="/browse/" target="_self"> Browse</a></li><li><a href="https://journals.aps.org/press" target="_self"> Press</a></li><li class="mobile-menu-search"><form action="/browse/" method="get"><input name="q" placeholder="Search for an article" type="search" value="" /></form></li></ul><ul class="mobile-menu" id="apsMenu"><li><a href="https://journals.aps.org"> APS Journals</a></li><li><a href="http://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/"> APS News</a></li></ul></div><div class="row featured-article"><div class="small-12 columns"><section class="featured feed-item"><div class="feed-item-image"><a href="/articles/v18/75"><img src="///cdn.journals.aps.org/test/8366c32e-c39a-49f8-9dea-a81b0b9a926d/local.path" /></a></div><div class="feed-item-details"><span class="feed-item-subject">Viewpoint</span><h3 class="feed-item-title"><a href="/articles/v18/75">Primordial Soup Was Full of Flavors</a></h3><time class="feed-item-date">April 7, 2025</time><p class="feed-item-deck">Top quarks and antiquarks have been detected in heavy-ion collisions at the Large Hadron Collider, showing that all six quark flavors were present in the Universe鈥檚 first moments.<a href="/articles/v18/75"> Read More »</a></p></div></section></div></div><hr /><div class="row sub-featured-articles"><div class="medium-4 columns"><section class="vertical feed-item"><div class="feed-item-image"><a href="/articles/v18/73"><img src="//cdn.journals.aps.org/test/68749134-ea02-4d2e-9751-0886ef419be7/local.path" /></a></div><div class="feed-item-details"><span class="feed-item-subject">Q&A</span><h3 class="feed-item-title"><a href="/articles/v18/73">Sifting Junk for Dark Matter</a></h3><time class="feed-item-date">April 4, 2025</time><p class="feed-item-deck">Elena Pinetti searches for dark matter using JWST calibration images that other researchers discard.<a href="/articles/v18/73"> Read More »</a></p></div></section></div><div class="medium-4 columns"><section class="vertical feed-item"><div class="feed-item-image"><a href="/articles/v18/s40"><img src="//cdn.journals.aps.org/test/dad7d6ce-1652-47aa-928e-9666870172d6/local.path" /></a></div><div class="feed-item-details"><span class="feed-item-subject">synopsis</span><h3 class="feed-item-title"><a href="/articles/v18/s40">Reducing the Dark Current</a></h3><time class="feed-item-date">April 3, 2025</time><p class="feed-item-deck">Researchers have demonstrated a method for suppressing unwanted electrons in bright electron beam sources.<a href="/articles/v18/s40"> Read More »</a></p></div></section></div><div class="medium-4 columns"><section class="vertical feed-item"><div class="feed-item-image"><a href="/articles/v18/s39"><img src="//cdn.journals.aps.org/test/001fe53e-c9a7-4f0e-bfc3-6736b3de8717/local.path" /></a></div><div class="feed-item-details"><span class="feed-item-subject">synopsis</span><h3 class="feed-item-title"><a href="/articles/v18/s39">Hidden Behavior of Quantum Quasicrystals</a></h3><time class="feed-item-date">April 2, 2025</time><p class="feed-item-deck">A new theory unveils the exotic low-energy excitations of quasicrystals formed of quantum particles.<a href="/articles/v18/s39"> Read More »</a></p></div></section></div></div><hr class="wave" /><div class="main"><section class="main-content index-article-feed"><h2>Recent Articles</h2><section class="feed-item"><div class="feed-item-image"><a href="/articles/v18/70"><img src="//cdn.journals.aps.org/test/62e95349-c7dc-4cfe-a847-039b36e0491f/local.path" /></a></div><div class="feed-item-details"><span class="feed-item-subject">Research News</span><h3 class="feed-item-title"><a href="/articles/v18/70">A Potential Tool for Diagnosing Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease</a></h3><time class="feed-item-date">April 2, 2025</time><p class="feed-item-deck">Transforming an MRI brain scan into a hyperbolic network of nodes allows researchers to detect brain connectivity disruption caused by Alzheimer鈥檚 disease.<a href="/articles/v18/70"> Read More »</a></p></div></section><section class="feed-item"><div class="feed-item-image"><a href="/articles/v18/s43"><img src="//cdn.journals.aps.org/test/331325de-2ca6-454d-88e0-8f553939722d/local.path" /></a></div><div class="feed-item-details"><span class="feed-item-subject">synopsis</span><h3 class="feed-item-title"><a href="/articles/v18/s43">The Reconstructability of Networks</a></h3><time class="feed-item-date">April 1, 2025</time><p class="feed-item-deck">The fidelity of a complex system鈥檚 representation as a network model depends on the diversity of its interconnections.<a href="/articles/v18/s43"> Read More »</a></p></div></section><section class="feed-item"><div class="feed-item-image"><a href="/articles/v18/74"><img src="//cdn.journals.aps.org/test/cddc11c2-7e43-4914-ba44-03221018a5c0/local.path" /></a></div><div class="feed-item-details"><span class="feed-item-subject">Focus</span><h3 class="feed-item-title"><a href="/articles/v18/74">Charged Droplets Can Hit a Surface Without Splashing</a></h3><time class="feed-item-date">April 1, 2025</time><p class="feed-item-deck">The messy breakup of a liquid droplet that occurs when it hits a surface can be suppressed by giving the droplet an electrical charge.<a href="/articles/v18/74"> Read More »</a></p></div></section><section class="feed-item"><div class="feed-item-image"><a href="/articles/v18/69"><img src="//cdn.journals.aps.org/test/37d7c3b3-d3e9-438e-8789-a97dd5f9dce2/local.path" /></a></div><div class="feed-item-details"><span class="feed-item-subject">Research News</span><h3 class="feed-item-title"><a href="/articles/v18/69">An Isolated Exoplanet Has a Patchy Atmosphere</a></h3><time class="feed-item-date">April 1, 2025</time><p class="feed-item-deck">Observations by the JWST observatory of a star-free super-Jupiter reveal large-scale inhomogeneities in its atmosphere.<a href="/articles/v18/69"> Read More »</a></p></div></section><section class="feed-item"><div class="feed-item-image"><a href="/articles/v18/71"><img src="//cdn.journals.aps.org/test/160323b3-2b91-4a96-9f85-7c1f34d0f4f4/local.path" /></a></div><div class="feed-item-details"><span class="feed-item-subject">Viewpoint</span><h3 class="feed-item-title"><a href="/articles/v18/71">With Behaviors Like These in Complex Systems, Who Needs Mechanisms?</a></h3><time class="feed-item-date">March 31, 2025</time><p class="feed-item-deck">A new study of complex systems supports a growing trend that focuses more on analyzing a system鈥檚 collective behavior rather than on trying to uncover the underlying interaction mechanisms.<a href="/articles/v18/71"> Read More »</a></p></div></section><section class="feed-item"><div class="feed-item-image"><a href="/articles/v18/72"><img src="//cdn.journals.aps.org/test/8774d585-5ad4-442e-a185-1c2e48d89849/local.path" /></a></div><div class="feed-item-details"><span class="feed-item-subject">Research News</span><h3 class="feed-item-title"><a href="/articles/v18/72">The Standard Cosmology Model May Be Breaking</a></h3><time class="feed-item-date">March 28, 2025</time><p class="feed-item-deck">Measurements of millions of galaxies suggest that dark energy changes over time and is more complicated than previously thought.<a href="/articles/v18/72"> Read More »</a></p></div></section><section class="feed-item"><div class="feed-item-image"><a href="/articles/v18/s37"><img src="//cdn.journals.aps.org/test/238bb386-8268-48e9-b551-47e00de00ee5/local.path" /></a></div><div class="feed-item-details"><span class="feed-item-subject">synopsis</span><h3 class="feed-item-title"><a href="/articles/v18/s37">Exploding Proteins to Classify Them</a></h3><time class="feed-item-date">March 27, 2025</time><p class="feed-item-deck">An intense x-ray pulse from a free-electron laser sends a protein鈥檚 atoms flying off in directions that reveal the protein鈥檚 structure.<a href="/articles/v18/s37"> Read More »</a></p></div></section><section class="feed-item"><div class="feed-item-image"><a href="/articles/v18/67"><img src="//cdn.journals.aps.org/test/96a860be-c7db-484d-97d0-ad8d0bf3d295/local.path" /></a></div><div class="feed-item-details"><span class="feed-item-subject">Research News</span><h3 class="feed-item-title"><a href="/articles/v18/67">Artificial Intelligence Makes the Grade</a></h3><time class="feed-item-date">March 27, 2025</time><p class="feed-item-deck">Language models such as ChatGPT could help university educators provide more consistent and transparent grades for introductory-level physics exams.<a href="/articles/v18/67"> Read More »</a></p></div></section><section class="feed-item"><div class="feed-item-image"><a href="/articles/v18/s41"><img src="//cdn.journals.aps.org/test/a1328f83-86a4-489f-8435-82f11457c8ad/local.path" /></a></div><div class="feed-item-details"><span class="feed-item-subject">synopsis</span><h3 class="feed-item-title"><a href="/articles/v18/s41">Erbium Ions Apply for Quantum Repeater Job</a></h3><time class="feed-item-date">March 26, 2025</time><p class="feed-item-deck">Experiments with erbium ions show that they can be used to create entangled photons in the telecom band鈥攁n important step in building quantum repeaters.<a href="/articles/v18/s41"> Read More »</a></p></div></section><a class="large button" href="/browse"> More Articles</a></section><div class="main-sidebar"><section class="panel hide-for-small-only"><h3>Email Alerts</h3><p>Sign up to receive weekly email alerts from <i>Physics</i>.</p><a class="small button" href="https://info.aps.org/physics-magazine"> Sign Up</a></section><section class="panel"><h3>Social Media</h3><p>Keep up-to-date by subscribing to our RSS feed, or following <i>Physics</i> on social media.</p><div class="article-action-buttons"><a class="small rss icon button" href="http://feeds.aps.org/rss/recent/physics.xml"><img src="//cdn.journals.aps.org/development/physics/images/icon-rss-white.svg" title="RSS" /></a><a class="small facebook icon button" href="https://www.facebook.com/apsphysics"><img src="//cdn.journals.aps.org/development/physics/images/icon-facebook-white.svg" title="Facebook" /></a><a class="small twitter icon button" href="https://twitter.com/#!/PhysicsMagazine"><img src="//cdn.journals.aps.org/development/physics/images/icon-twitter-white.svg" title="Twitter" /></a></div></section><section class="panel"><h3>APS News</h3><ul class="link-list"> <li class="link-list-item"> <h4><a href="https://www.aps.org/apsnews/2025/03/case-immigration-reform-funding?utm_source=mar-amn&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=mar-amn"> Physicists make the case for immigration reform and research funding on Capitol Hill</a></h4> <p>More than 100 scientists and students headed to Washington, D.C., for Congressional Visits Day.</p> </li> </ul><p><a href="http://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/">More from APS News »</a></p></section><section class="panel features"><h3>Recent Articles</h3><ul class="link-list"><li class="link-list-item"><h4><a href="/articles/v18/73">Sifting Junk for Dark Matter</a></h4><p>Elena Pinetti searches for dark matter using JWST calibration images that other researchers discard.</p></li><li class="link-list-item"><h4><a href="/articles/v18/s40">Reducing the Dark Current</a></h4><p>Researchers have demonstrated a method for suppressing unwanted electrons in bright electron beam sources.</p></li><li class="link-list-item"><h4><a href="/articles/v18/s39">Hidden Behavior of Quantum Quasicrystals</a></h4><p>A new theory unveils the exotic low-energy excitations of quasicrystals formed of quantum particles.</p></li></ul><p><a href="/browse/?page=1&article_type=feature"> More Recent Articles »</a></p></section></div></div><div class="email-callout"><section class="column-row"><p>Sign up to receive weekly email alerts from <i>Physics Magazine</i>.</p><a class="small button" href="https://info.aps.org/physics-magazine"> Sign Up</a></section></div><script>window.apsMathJaxConfig = "https:";</script><footer><div class="upper-footer"><div class="column-row"><ul class="inline-list"><li><a href="http://www.aps.org"> APS</a></li><li><a href="/announcements" target="_self"> News and Announcements</a></li><li><a href="http://www.aps.org/membership/join.cfm"> Join APS</a></li><li><a href="/contact">Contact Us</a></li></ul></div></div><div class="lower-footer"><div class="column-row"><ul class="link-columns"><li><ul class="link-column"><li class="title">APS Journals</li><li><a href="https://journals.aps.org/about">About</a></li><li><a href="https://journals.aps.org/authors">Authors</a></li><li><a href="https://journals.aps.org/referees">Referees</a></li><li><a href="https://librarians.aps.org/institutional.html"> Subscriptions</a></li></ul></li><li><ul class="link-column"><li class="title">Students</li><li><a href="https://physics.aps.org/"> Physics</a></li><li><a href="http://www.physicscentral.com/"> PhysicsCentral</a></li><li><a href="http://www.aps.org/membership/student.cfm"> Student Membership</a></li></ul></li><li><ul class="link-column"><li class="title">APS Members</li><li><a href="http://www.aps.org/membership/aps-publications.cfm"> Subscriptions</a></li><li><a href="http://www.aps.org/memb/"> Membership</a></li><li><a href="http://www.aps.org/membership/faq.cfm"> FAQ</a></li><li><a href="http://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/index.cfm"> APS News</a></li><li><a href="http://www.aps.org/meetings/index.cfm"> Meetings & Events</a></li></ul></li></ul><hr /><ul class="inline-list"><li><a href="http://www.aps.org/about/privacy.cfm"> Privacy</a></li><li><a href="https://journals.aps.org/policies"> Policies</a></li><li><a href="https://journals.aps.org/contact.html"> Contact Information</a></li><li><a href="mailto:feedback@aps.org"> Feedback</a></li></ul><p>Use of the American Physical Society websites and journals implies that the user has read and agrees to our <a href="https://journals.aps.org/info/terms.html"> Terms and Conditions</a> and any applicable Subscription Agreement.</p></div></div></footer><script src="https://cdn.aps.org/cookie-widget/latest/cookiewidget.js"></script><script src="https://cdn.journals.aps.org/libs/mathjax/2.7.2/MathJax.js?config=TeX-AMS-MML_HTMLorMML,https:"></script><script src="//cdn.journals.aps.org/development/physics/javascripts/app-2a772ad2.js" type="text/javascript"></script><script src="//cdn.journals.aps.org/development/physics/javascripts/citing_articles-e1848dc6.js" type="text/javascript"></script><script src="//cdn.journals.aps.org/development/physics/javascripts/sharing-ac57fdad.js" type="text/javascript"></script></body></html>