Nature Physics October Issue

TABLE OF CONTENTS October 2012 Volume 8, Issue 10 Editorial Correspondence Thesis Books and Arts Research Highlights News and Views Research Article Letters Articles Subscribe   Facebook   RSS   Recommend to library   Twitter   Advertisement Online-only personal subscriptions now available to Nature Physics For only 49 USD/29 GBP/29 EUR Subscribe now!   Editorial Top Forcing the issue   p695 doi:10.1038/nphys2458 The candidates in the forthcoming US presidential election have set out their opinions on scientific issues — but in the shadow of possible swingeing cuts in the science budget. Correspondence Top Characterizing dynamic length scales in glass-forming liquids   pp696 - 697 Elijah Flenner and Grzegorz Szamel doi:10.1038/nphys2437 See also: Correspondence by Kob et al. Reply to "Characterizing dynamic length scales in glass-forming liquids"   p697 Walter Kob, Sándalo Roldán-Vargas and Ludovic Berthier doi:10.1038/nphys2435 See also: Correspondence by Flenner & Szamel Origin of the Au/Ge(001) metallic state   pp697 - 698 R. Heimbuch, M. Kuzmin and H. J. W. Zandvliet doi:10.1038/nphys2414 Thesis Top Disaster by design   p699 Mark Buchanan doi:10.1038/nphys2445 Books and Arts Top Dance: Collision course   pp700 - 701 Reviewed by Michael Doser doi:10.1038/nphys2436 Exhibition: Such stuff as dreams are made on   p701 Reviewed by Alison Wright doi:10.1038/nphys2454 Research Highlights Top Popularity contested | Mid-guide spread | Computer says nova | More spookiness | To be or not to be News and Views Top Magnetic monopoles: Magnetricity near the speed of light   pp703 - 704 Steven T. Bramwell doi:10.1038/nphys2412 Faraday and Dirac constructed magnetic monopoles using the practical and mathematical tools available to them. Now physicists have engineered effective monopoles by combining modern optics with nanotechnology. Part matter and part light, these magnetic monopoles travel at unprecedented speeds. See also: Letter by Hivet et al. Čerenkov radiation: Light from ripples   p704 Iulia Georgescu doi:10.1038/nphys2447 Device Physics: Topological transistor   pp705 - 706 L. Andrew Wray doi:10.1038/nphys2410 Devices based on surface electrons in topological insulators are keenly anticipated, but singling these electrons out amid abundant bulk electrons poses a formidable challenge. Inspiration from the common transistor now enables manipulation of these exotic states. See also: Letter by Checkelsky et al. Fluid dynamics: Flattened fingers   pp706 - 707 Anne Juel doi:10.1038/nphys2408 Interfacial instabilities brought on by the penetration of one fluid into another hamper processes such as enhanced oil recovery from porous rock. But these instabilities can be suppressed with a simple gradient in fluid depth — a natural feature of many practical vessel geometries. See also: Letter by Al-Housseiny et al. Nonlinear optics: High harmonics with a twist   pp707 - 708 Serguei Patchkovskii and Michael Spanner doi:10.1038/nphys2415 Optical vortices usually break up when they propagate through nonlinear media. Now, however, experiments show the helical structure of an infrared beam can survive a high-harmonic-generation process. This could lead to a table-top source of attosecond helical light pulses. See also: Letter by Zurch et al. Physics JOBS of the week Ph. D. studentship in Physics Stockholm University PhD position in the area of physics - Lattice dynamics of epitaxial rare earth oxide films Karlsruhe Insitute of Technology, Laboratory for Applications of Synchrotron Radiation Assistant Professor in Department of Physics & Center for Computational and Integrative Biology Rutgers University, Camden Assistant Professor Experimental Condensed Matter Physics / Materials Physics University at Buffalo, SUNY Theoretical Condensed Matter / Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics University of California, Merced (UCM) More Science jobs from Physics EVENT Topical Research Meetings on Physics: Quantum Technologies: Taking Concepts through to Implementations 17th Dec - 18th Dec 2012 London, UK More science events from Research Article Top Magnetism and its microscopic origin in iron-based high-temperature superconductors   pp709 - 718 Pengcheng Dai, Jiangping Hu and Elbio Dagotto doi:10.1038/nphys2438 The magnetic states found in iron-based superconductors are more complex than originally thought. This Review argues that the magnetism arises from both itinerant and localized electrons. Letters Top Computing prime factors with a Josephson phase qubit quantum processor   pp719 - 723 Erik Lucero, R. Barends, Y. Chen, J. Kelly, M. Mariantoni, A. Megrant, P. O'Malley, D. Sank, A. Vainsencher, J. Wenner, T. White, Y. Yin, A. N. Cleland and John M. Martinis doi:10.1038/nphys2385 Shor's quantum algorithm factorizes integers, and implementing this is a benchmark test in the early development of quantum processors. Researchers now demonstrate this important test in a solid-state system: a circuit made up of four superconducting qubits factorizes the number 15. Half-solitons in a polariton quantum fluid behave like magnetic monopoles   pp724 - 728 R. Hivet, H. Flayac, D. D. Solnyshkov, D. Tanese, T. Boulier, D. Andreoli, E. Giacobino, J. Bloch, A. Bramati, G. Malpuech and A. Amo doi:10.1038/nphys2406 An analogue of a magnetic monopole is now observed in a condensed state of light–matter hybrid particles known as cavity polaritons. Spin-phase excitations of the polariton fluid are accelerated along the cavity under the influence of a magnetic field—just as if they were single magnetic charges. See also: News and Views by Bramwell Dirac-fermion-mediated ferromagnetism in a topological insulator   pp729 - 733 Joseph G. Checkelsky, Jianting Ye, Yoshinori Onose, Yoshihiro Iwasa and Yoshinori Tokura doi:10.1038/nphys2388 Doping a topological insulator with manganese makes it magnetic. Moreover, decreasing the concentration of Dirac fermions in a Mn-doped topological insulator with an electric field increases the strength of its magnetic characteristics—a trait that could be valuable to the use of topological insulators in the development of spintronics. See also: News and Views by Wray Chirality of matter shows up via spin excitations   pp734 - 738 S. Bordács, I. Kézsmérki, D. Szaller, L. Demkó, N. Kida, H. Murakawa, Y. Onose, R. Shimano, T. Rõõm, U. Nagel, S. Miyahara, N. Furukawa and Y. Tokura doi:10.1038/nphys2387 Chirality is usually manifested by differences in a material's response to left- and right-circularly polarized light. This difference is the result of the specific distribution of charge within chiral materials. A similar response has now been found to result from the chiral spin structure of an antiferromagnet. Breakdown of continuum mechanics for nanometre-wavelength rippling of graphene   pp739 - 742 Levente Tapasztó, Traian Dumitrică, Sung Jin Kim, Péter Nemes-Incze, Chanyong Hwang and László P. Biro doi:10.1038/nphys2389 It is known that graphene exhibits natural ripples with characteristic lengths of around 10 nm. But when it is stretched across nanometre-scale trenches that form in a reconstructed copper surface, it develops even tighter corrugations that cannot be explained by continuum theory. Strong-field physics with singular light beams   pp743 - 746 M. Zürch, C. Kern, P. Hansinger, A. Dreischuh and Ch. Spielmann doi:10.1038/nphys2397 Optical vortices exhibit a corkscrew-like shape as they travel. The study of this phenomenon, known as singular optics, is now extended to the high-power regime where high-harmonic processes become evident. This type of radiation could help illuminate novel attosecond phenomena in atoms and molecules. See also: News and Views by Patchkovskii & Spanner Control of interfacial instabilities using flow geometry   pp747 - 750 Talal T. Al-Housseiny, Peichun A. Tsai and Howard A. Stone doi:10.1038/nphys2396 When a low-viscosity fluid penetrates a fluid of higher viscosity confined by parallel plates, finger-like patterns propagate at the interface between the two fluids. Experiments now show that tapering the fluid cell can suppress this instability - providing interfacial control via a simple change in geometry. See also: News and Views by Juel Articles Top Decrease of upper critical field with underdoping in cuprate superconductors   pp751 - 756 J. Chang, N. Doiron-Leyraud, O. Cyr-Choiniere, G. Grissonnanche, F. Laliberte, E. Hassinger, J-Ph. Reid, R. Daou, S. Pyon, T. Takayama, H. Takagi and Louis Taillefer doi:10.1038/nphys2380 Decreasing the doping of a cuprate superconductor below a certain critical value causes its critical temperature to fall, however the reason for this has been unclear. Sensitive measurements of the Nernst effect in yttrium barium copper oxide suggest it is the result of competition with an emerging stripe phase. Direct mapping of the formation of a persistent spin helix   pp757 - 762 M. P. Walser, C. Reichl, W. Wegscheider and G. Salis doi:10.1038/nphys2383 Spin-orbit interaction induces spin-polarization decay in semiconductor quantum wells. But this decay can be suppressed in favour of a helical spin mode by tuning the interaction. Optical pump-probe measurements provide direct evidence of the resulting helix—a signature that has so far only been inferred from transport measurements. Dynamics of relativistic transparency and optical shuttering in expanding overdense plasmas   pp763 - 769 Sasi Palaniyappan, B. Manuel Hegelich, Hui-Chun Wu, Daniel Jung, Donald C. Gautier, Lin Yin, Brian J. Albright, Randall P. Johnson, Tsutomu Shimada, Samuel Letzring, Dustin T. Offermann, Jun Ren, Chengkun Huang, Rainer Horlein, Brendan Dromey, Juan C. Fernandez and Rahul C. Shah doi:10.1038/nphys2390 When electrons are accelerated to near light-speeds through an overdense plasma by an intense laser beam, the usually opaque plasma becomes optically transparent. High-speed laser experiments provide unprecedented insight into the dynamics of this process. 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