Nature Physics November Issue

TABLE OF CONTENTS November 2012 Volume 8, Issue 11 Editorials Commentary Thesis Research Highlights News and Views Letters Articles The publication of this issue was delayed due to Hurricane Sandy closing our New York offices temporarily. We apologize for any inconvenience caused. Subscribe   Facebook   RSS   Recommend to library   Twitter   Advertisement Nature Outlook: Physics Masterclass From subatomic particles to cosmic-scale phenomena, Nature Outlook: Physics Masterclass uses the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting 2012 to launch an examination of some of the biggest breakthroughs in physics. Access the Outlook free online for six months. Supported by: Mars, Incorporated   Advertisement Job opportunity Nature Physics seeks a locum Associate Editor to join its editorial team for an initial period of six months (with the possibility of extension), in our London office. The ideal candidate will have completed a Ph.D. in a physics discipline, and postdoctoral experience is preferred (but not required). Key elements of the position include the selection of manuscripts for publication, as well as commissioning, editing and writing for the journal.  Read the full advert    Closing date: 19 November 2012   Editorials Top What's in a name?   p771 doi:10.1038/nphys2488 A unique identifier for every researcher will keep the scientific record in order. Blaze a trail   p771 doi:10.1038/nphys2490 It's been a good month for astronomical discovery and innovation. Commentary Top The sciences converge to fight cancer   pp773 - 774 David B. Agus and Franziska Michor doi:10.1038/nphys2464 The Physical Sciences-Oncology Centers in the US bring together scientists from all backgrounds to tackle some of the most important questions in cancer research. Thesis Top Pattern of growth   p775 Mark Buchanan doi:10.1038/nphys2471 Research Highlights Top Nobel Prize 2012: Haroche & Wineland | Behind the mask | Big science to go small | Lithium treatment | Frosted icing | The Planck dive News and Views Top Majorana fermions: Doubling down on Majorana   pp778 - 779 James R. Williams and David Goldhaber-Gordon doi:10.1038/nphys2459 A superconducting device that exhibits voltage steps twice as large as expected could harbour Majorana fermions. See also: Letter by Rokhinson et al. | Condensed matter: The great topological expansion   pp779 - 780 H. Dennis Drew doi:10.1038/nphys2473 Topological insulators have an electronic structure that supports topologically protected surface states. Now it seems that crystal symmetry can likewise generate protected states in a new class of materials known as 'topological crystalline insulators'. See also: Letter by Tanaka et al. | Colloidal crystals: Perfect stranger   p780 Abigail klopper doi:10.1038/nphys2476 Nuclear magnetic resonance: Long live the spin   pp781 - 782 Andreas Trabesinger doi:10.1038/nphys2462 A technique for protecting out-of-equilibrium nuclear spin states from thermalization while offering a route to converting them into observable NMR signal is an important contribution to a field that welcomes every bit of extra signal. See also: Article by Feng et al. | Quantum mechanical resonators: Rising above the noise   p782 David Gevaux doi:10.1038/nphys2477 Coronal mass ejection: The birth of a solar eruption   pp783 - 784 Stefaan Poedts doi:10.1038/nphys2446 A sophisticated model of the birth and early evolution of coronal mass ejections could lead to better forecast of the 'weather' in space. See also: Article by Roussev et al. | Quantum gases: Mott made easy   pp784 - 785 Congjun Wu doi:10.1038/nphys2432 The realization of a Mott insulating state in a system of ultracold fermions comprising far more internal components than the electron, provides an avenue for probing many-body physics that is difficult to access in solids. See also: Article by Taie et al. | Plasma physics: Order from disorder   pp785 - 786 Sergey Lebedev doi:10.1038/nphys2448 The formation of a macroscopic self-organized electromagnetic-field structure during a collisionless interaction of supersonic plasma streams is challenging existing models of counter-streaming plasmas. See also: Letter by Kugland et al. | Physics JOBS of the week Postdoctoral Position in Physics and Materials Science CNR - Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche Post doctoral position in physics Ben-Gurion University, Dept. of Physics, AtomChip Group Postdoctoral position in Theoretical Biological Physics Department of Physics, University of Tennessee at Knoxville, USA Postdoctoral Research Associate / Research Fellow – Radiation Physics The University of Sydney (USYD) Junior Research Fellowship in condensed matter physics Science and Research Technology Council 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 Letters Top Rotational evolution of young pulsars due to superfluid decoupling   pp787 - 789 Wynn C. G. Ho and Nils Andersson doi:10.1038/nphys2424 The so-called braking index calculated for the spin-down of rotating neutron stars, or pulsars, doesn't tally well with observations. But a model accounting for a changing moment of inertia, as an increasing fraction of the stellar core becomes superfluid, can explain the rotational evolution of young pulsars. Observation of coherent many-body Rabi oscillations   pp790 - 794 Y. O. Dudin, L. Li, F. Bariani and A. Kuzmich doi:10.1038/nphys2413 A two-level quantum system driven by an electromagnetic field can oscillate between its two states. The effects of these so-called Rabi oscillations are usually obscured in many-body systems by the variation in properties of the particles involved. Now, however, coherent many-body Rabi oscillations are observed in a vapour made up of several hundred cold rubidium atoms. The fractional a.c. Josephson effect in a semiconductor-superconductor nanowire as a signature of Majorana particles   pp795 - 799 Leonid P. Rokhinson, Xinyu Liu and Jacek K. Furdyna doi:10.1038/nphys2429 The fractional alternating-current Josephson effect produces a series of steps in the current-voltage characteristics of a superconducting junction driven at radiofrequencies. This unusual phenomenon is now observed in a semiconductor-superconductor nanowire. What is more, a doubling in step size when a strong magnetic field is applied could be a possible signature of Majorana fermions, particles that are their own antiparticle. See also: News and Views by Williams & Goldhaber-Gordon | Experimental realization of a topological crystalline insulator in SnTe   pp800 - 803 Y. Tanaka, Zhi Ren, T. Sato, K. Nakayama, S. Souma, T. Takahashi, Kouji Segawa and Yoichi Ando doi:10.1038/nphys2442 A topological insulator has surface metallic states that are topologically protected by time-reversal symmetry. Tin telluride is now shown to be a 'topological crystalline insulator', in which the surface metallic state is instead protected by the mirror symmetry of the crystal. See also: News and Views by Drew | Coherent synchrotron emission from electron nanobunches formed in relativistic laser-plasma interactions   pp804 - 808 B. Dromey, S. Rykovanov, M. Yeung, R. Horlein, D. Jung, D. C. Gautier, T. Dzelzainis, D. Kiefer, S. Palaniyppan, R. Shah, J. Schreiber, H. Ruhl, J. C. Fernandez, C. L. S. Lewis, M. Zepf and B. M. Hegelich doi:10.1038/nphys2439 Extreme ultraviolet and X-ray radiation can be generated when the high harmonics of incident laser light are reflected by a dense plasma, the so-called relativistically oscillating mirror mechanism. Theoretical studies have, however, predicted an alternative regime in which short-wavelength light is generated by dense electron nanobunches that form at the plasma-vacuum boundary. Signatures of this coherent synchrotron emission are now experimentally observed. Self-organized electromagnetic field structures in laser-produced counter-streaming plasmas   pp809 - 812 N. L. Kugland, D. D. Ryutov, P-Y. Chang, R. P. Drake, G. Fiksel, D. H. Froula, S. H. Glenzer, G. Gregori, M. Grosskopf, M. Koenig, Y. Kuramitsu, C. Kuranz, M. C. Levy, E. Liang, J. Meinecke, F. Miniati, T. Morita, A. Pelka, C. Plechaty, R. Presura, A. Ravasio, B. A. Remington, B. Reville, J. S. Ross, Y. Sakawa, A. Spitkovsky, H. Takabe and H-S. Park doi:10.1038/nphys2434 Stable structures can self-assemble in plasmas flowing at supersonic speeds, as evident in many astronomical objects. But now it is also seen in the laboratory using two plasmas travelling in opposite directions, each created by ablating a plastic disc with high-power lasers. See also: News and Views by Lebedev | Articles Top Coherent multi-flavour spin dynamics in a fermionic quantum gas   pp813 - 818 Jasper S. Krauser, Jannes Heinze, Nick Fläschner, Sören Götze, Ole Jürgensen, Dirk-Sören Lühmann, Christoph Becker and Klaus Sengstock doi:10.1038/nphys2409 Quantum gases are useful toy models for the study of quantum magnetism. Exquisite control of a spinor gas of fermionic atoms in an optical lattice has now been demonstrated, opening up the exploration of quantum magnetism with high spins. Microwave electrometry with Rydberg atoms in a vapour cell using bright atomic resonances   pp819 - 824 Jonathon A. Sedlacek, Arne Schwettmann, Harald Kübler, Robert Löw, Tilman Pfau and James P. Shaffer doi:10.1038/nphys2423 Atoms can be used as highly sensitive magnetic-field sensors. By exploiting the effects of electric fields on the optical transitions of excited Rydberg states, it is now demonstrated that it is also possible to probe very weak microwave electric fields with atoms. An SU(6) Mott insulator of an atomic Fermi gas realized by large-spin Pomeranchuk cooling   pp825 - 830 Shintaro Taie, Rekishu Yamazaki, Seiji Sugawa and Yoshiro Takahashi doi:10.1038/nphys2430 A multicomponent gas of ytterbium atoms accommodates more entropy in its spin degrees of freedom than does its two-component analogue, leading to a lower effective temperature, and an easy route for cooling ultracold fermions towards a Mott-insulating state. See also: News and Views by Wu | Accessing long-lived nuclear singlet states between chemically equivalent spins without breaking symmetry   pp831 - 837 Yesu Feng, Ryan M. Davis and Warren S. Warren doi:10.1038/nphys2425 Short nuclear spin-lattice relaxation times have long been a challenge for magnetic resonance imaging. The alternative of using long-lived nuclear spin states has so far required symmetry breaking, but a method of controlling these states without breaking the symmetry of the spin system has now been demonstrated. See also: News and Views by Trabesinger | Electric-field-induced generation and reversal of ferromagnetic moment in ferrites   pp838 - 844 Yusuke Tokunaga, Yasujiro Taguchi, Taka-hisa Arima and Yoshinori Tokura doi:10.1038/nphys2405 The ability to modify a material's magnetization with an electric field could enable lower-power electronic devices. Such 'magnetoelectric' behaviour is usually only seen at the interface between magnetostrictive and electrostrictive materials, but has now been observed in the bulk of single-component rare-earth ferrites. Explaining fast ejections of plasma and exotic X-ray emission from the solar corona   pp845 - 849 Ilia I. Roussev, Klaus Galsgaard, Cooper Downs, Noe Lugaz, Igor V. Sokolov, Elena Moise and Jun Lin doi:10.1038/nphys2427 Sudden bursts of charged particles emitted from the surface of the Sun can disrupt the satellites orbiting Earth. However, the mechanisms that drive these so-called coronal mass ejections remain unclear. An advanced computer model now establishes a link between the onset of an ejection and the emergence of magnetic flux into the solar atmosphere. See also: News and Views by Poedts | Top Advertisement Confronting the Universe - 5 short films on physics At the 2012 Meeting of Nobel Laureates, we filmed five debates on issues that matter to the current generation of researchers. 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