Superconducting qubits are measured using microwaves, posing constraints on its size and thermal budgets. The electro-optic transceiver presented here can be used to perform optical readout without affecting qubit performance.

Microwaves are usually used to interact with superconducting qubits, but optical photons can be processed at room temperature. The electro-optical transceiver presented here allows all-optical readout of a qubit without affecting its performance.

Two regions of superconductivity are observed in the phase diagram of Bernal-stacked bilayer graphene. Spin–orbit coupling induced by the substrate and orbital moments are shown to be important in describing their properties.

A unified description of the dynamics of structurally disordered materials is challenging. Simulations of model systems now show that percolation theory provides a framework unifying the two most prominent relaxation processes in supercooled liquids and glasses.

It has been proposed that the equilibration time of many-body systems is limited by a timescale determined by Planck’s constant and temperature. A bound of this kind has now been identified for a universal definition of equilibration time.

Bubble formation is a signal of false vacuum decay, in which a system transitions from a local energy minimum to a true vacuum. Now, simulations on a quantum annealer show how interactions between bubbles drive the long-time dynamics of this process.

Recent advances in classifying magnets according to spin-group symmetry have expanded the possibilities of unconventional magnetism. Unconventional magnets — such as collinear spin-split antiferromagnets, also known as altermagnets, noncollinear spin-split antiferromagnets and anomalous-Hall antiferromagnets — combine the advantages of ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism.

To kick off the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology, we highlight recent progress in the use of quantum simulators to tackle problems in high-energy physics and cosmology.

Living organisms and soft materials pose specific challenges to metrology, as Pavao Andričević and Hüsnü Aslan explain.

From soft matter models to plasma generation, physics offers a wide array of tools to optimize the way we prepare and preserve our food.