Physics

Schematic of the experimental setup. Credit: 2025 EMSI LFMI EPFL CC BY SA EPFL researchers have discovered that a droplet of liquid can bounce for several minutes—and perhaps indefinitely—over a vibrating solid surface. The seemingly simple observation has big implications for physics and chemistry. If you’ve ever added liquid to a hot frying pan, maybe […]

Simulated Milky Way Galaxy. Credit: AIP/ A. Khalatyan New research shows that dark matter has a different distribution in our galaxy than previously thought, and that advances dark matter’s status as a potential source of the observed gamma ray excess in the Milky Way’s center. High-resolution simulations reveal that the dark matter distribution in the

Equatorial section of the system. Left: Dark matter density (the vortex network corresponds to the network of underdense white dots in the core). Center: Phase of the underlying wave function, with stellar structure in the core associated with the vortex network. Right: Circular motion of the vortices inside the core. The nature of dark matter

Engineers need to precisely predict how instant and strong pressure changes initiate and dissipate to prevent damage during rocket launches, for example. A team from YOKOHAMA National University has detailed how computational models represent a type of shock wave differently than theoretical or physical predictions do. This new understanding could help improve predictions, the researchers

TE-PWS takes in any general stochastic model and outputs the exact transfer entropy for each edge in both directions. Credit: Avishek Das and Pieter Rein ten Wolde. Networks are systems comprised of two or more connected devices, biological organisms or other components, which typically share information with each other. Understanding how information moves between these

(Top left) Composition of the universe, showing that dark matter accounts for about 27%. (Top right) Proposed quantum sensor network, where superconducting qubits are connected in different graph structures. (Bottom) Estimation results demonstrating agreement with the true value, along with a comparison against quantum bounds. Credit: Physical Review D (2025). DOI: 10.1103/rv43-54zq Detecting dark matter—the

In collisions of counter-propagating proton beams, hadronisation processes can be studied. Detectors register secondary particles produced directly in the collision region or from the decays of long-lived particles within the surrounding halo. Quantum correlations between triplets of pi mesons (on the right) provide information about the details of the process, indicating coherent particle emission. Credit:

Two-oscillator quantum engine. Credit: Science Advances (2025). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adw8462 Two physicists at the University of Stuttgart have proven that the Carnot principle, a central law of thermodynamics, does not apply to objects on the atomic scale whose physical properties are linked (so-called correlated objects). This discovery could, for example, advance the development of tiny, energy-efficient

A schematic view of e+e− pair production and the QCD phase diagram. Credit: Nature Communications (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-63216-5 A research team led by Rice University physicist Frank Geurts has successfully measured the temperature of quark-gluon plasma (QGP) at various stages of its evolution, providing critical insights into a state of matter believed to have existed

This 3-D printed kagome tube can passively isolate vibrations using its complex, but deliberate, structure. Credit: James McInerney, Air Force Research Laboratory In science and engineering, it’s unusual for innovation to come in one fell swoop. It’s more often a painstaking plod through which the extraordinary gradually becomes ordinary. But we may be at an