Nature PhysicsPub Date : 2026-09-09DOI: 10.1038/s41567-026-03462-6
Lishu Wu
{"title":"Monolayer superconductors enter the circuit","authors":"Lishu Wu","doi":"10.1038/s41567-026-03462-6","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41567-026-03462-6","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":19100,"journal":{"name":"Nature Physics","volume":"22 9","pages":"1380-1380"},"PeriodicalIF":18.0,"publicationDate":"2026-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148910011","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature PhysicsPub Date : 2026-09-09DOI: 10.1038/s41567-026-03432-y
Steven Choquette
{"title":"Standards in a bottle","authors":"Steven Choquette","doi":"10.1038/s41567-026-03432-y","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41567-026-03432-y","url":null,"abstract":"Reference materials bring metrological confidence to forensics, biopharmaceuticals and human health measurement challenges, explains Steven Choquette.","PeriodicalId":19100,"journal":{"name":"Nature Physics","volume":"22 9","pages":"1519-1519"},"PeriodicalIF":18.0,"publicationDate":"2026-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148910080","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature PhysicsPub Date : 2026-09-09DOI: 10.1038/s41567-026-03437-7
Mark Buchanan
{"title":"Life in the machine","authors":"Mark Buchanan","doi":"10.1038/s41567-026-03437-7","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41567-026-03437-7","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":19100,"journal":{"name":"Nature Physics","volume":"22 9","pages":"1366-1366"},"PeriodicalIF":18.0,"publicationDate":"2026-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148910094","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Relativistic position verification with coherent states","authors":"Guan-Jie Fan-Yuan,Yang-Guang Shan,Cong Zhang,Yu-Long Wang,Yu-Xuan Fan,Wei-Xin Xie,De-Yong He,Shuang Wang,Zhen-Qiang Yin,Wei Chen,Song-Nian Fu,Guang-Can Guo,Zheng-Fu Han","doi":"10.1038/s41567-026-03439-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-026-03439-5","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract A secure approach to determining the position of an entity can enable schemes such as position-based authorization for transactions and tracking of high-value targets. However, classical methods are incapable of providing secure position verification in the untrusted-prover case, meaning that a prover can mislead verifiers about its actual position. Here we propose and experimentally realize a secure position verification protocol that combines quantum optics and relativity within an information-theoretic framework. Using phase-randomized weak coherent states, two verifiers separated by 2 km securely verify the prover’s position with an accuracy better than 75 m. These results establish secure position-based authentication as a practical possibility, paving the way for applications in financial transactions, disaster response and authenticated secure communications.","PeriodicalId":19100,"journal":{"name":"Nature Physics","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":19.6,"publicationDate":"2026-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148894422","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature PhysicsPub Date : 2026-09-01DOI: 10.1038/s41567-026-03417-x
Lucy Clark, J. Ross Stewart
{"title":"The challenge of synthesis dependence in quantum materials research","authors":"Lucy Clark, J. Ross Stewart","doi":"10.1038/s41567-026-03417-x","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41567-026-03417-x","url":null,"abstract":"Synthesis dependence is one of the biggest challenges faced by the field of quantum materials. Current synthesis methods introduce sample-to-sample variations that are poorly understood and difficult to control. This, in turn, leads to unreliable and unreproducible quantum materials and a lack of consensus across the community on their properties of interest. Here we highlight several examples of this synthesis dependence and propose steps that could overcome its challenges to deliver more reliable, reproducible and ultimately useful quantum materials. Interesting results in quantum materials often suffer from substantial inconsistencies between samples. This Perspective advocates for more careful study of synthesis dependence to realize the full potential of quantum materials science.","PeriodicalId":19100,"journal":{"name":"Nature Physics","volume":"22 9","pages":"1386-1393"},"PeriodicalIF":18.0,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148910075","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nature PhysicsPub Date : 2026-08-31DOI: 10.1038/s41567-026-03429-7
Daniel M. B. Lesko, Tobias Weitz, Simon Wittigschlager, Weizhe Li, Christian Heide, Ofer Neufeld, Peter Hommelhoff
{"title":"Optical control of electrons in a Floquet topological insulator","authors":"Daniel M. B. Lesko, Tobias Weitz, Simon Wittigschlager, Weizhe Li, Christian Heide, Ofer Neufeld, Peter Hommelhoff","doi":"10.1038/s41567-026-03429-7","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41567-026-03429-7","url":null,"abstract":"Light-dressed materials offer a route to generating electronic properties that differ from those of materials at equilibrium. The resulting band structures can host distinct quantum and topological phenomena. So far, optical control of charge within a light-dressed band structure has remained elusive. Here we demonstrate optical control of electrons in light-dressed graphene. By focusing circularly polarized femtosecond laser pulses at 1,550 nm on monolayer graphene, we generate a Floquet topological insulator. With a phase-locked second-harmonic field, we dynamically control electrons in this state, a technique we call harmonic Floquet spectroscopy. We observe photocurrent circular dichroism, an all-optical anomalous Hall effect and valley-polarized currents. The photocurrents show strong subcycle phase sensitivity, suggesting a route to ultrafast control in topological electronics, spectroscopy and attosecond physics in quantum materials. Driving a solid with light can create a topological insulator, but controlling its electrons has remained elusive. Optical control of electrons in a Floquet topological insulator has now been achieved in light-dressed graphene.","PeriodicalId":19100,"journal":{"name":"Nature Physics","volume":"22 10","pages":"1607-1614"},"PeriodicalIF":18.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41567-026-03429-7.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148899518","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}