Physics Archives – Physics World

A fundamental theory in electrostatics is that two particles with the same charge will repel and two particles with opposite charge will attract. This idea is built into most models that describe how particles behave in liquids. Yet over the past several decades, experiments have revealed that like charged particles can attract each other in solution, forming clusters that st...

The Hall effect is a voltage that appears across a material when a current flows through it in the presence of an external magnetic field. The nonlinear Hall effect, however, can occur without a magnetic field if the material’s internal structure is asymmetric. It typically appears under an AC or oscillating electric field, and the resulting Hall voltage scales with the squar...

Reservoir computing is a computational approach well suited to time‑dependent tasks such as speech recognition, because it relies on internal dynamics, nonlinear responses, and short‑term memory of recent inputs. However, most hardware implementations consume too much power and lack the rich dynamics needed for complex problems. In this study, the researchers introduce a new ...

The concept of turbulence is one of physics’ most persistent challenges, defying a simple description despite decades of research. Adding quantum mechanics into the mix only makes things more complicated.

BECs are formed when atoms are cooled down to close to absolute zero. In this state they behave as a single coherent quantum fluid. They enable the observation of qua...

Most materials expand when heated because increased atomic vibrations push atoms slightly farther apart. However, some unusual materials, such as α‑Cu₂V₂O₇, instead shrink when heated, a phenomenon known as negative thermal expansion. Although this behaviour had been observed before, its underlying mechanism was not well understood. In this study, the researchers examined α‑C...