Physics

The zoo of spontaneously emerging particlelike entities known as quasiparticles has grown quickly and become more and more exotic. Here are a few of the most curious and potentially useful examples.

An unexpected superconductor was beginning to look like a fluke, but a new theory and a second discovery have revealed that emergent quasiparticles may be behind the effect.

Spurred on by quantum experiments that scramble the ordering of causes and their effects, some physicists are figuring out how to abandon causality altogether.

A supernova-like explosion dubbed the Camel appears to be the result of a newborn black hole eating a star from the inside out.

A former graduate student reflects on how Isadore Singer, who died on February 11, brought together mathematicians, physicists and anyone else interested in the deeper connections between diverse fields.

A new thought experiment indicates that quantum mechanics doesn’t work without strange numbers that turn negative when squared.

In a second season of enlightened conversations, Steven Strogatz and leading researchers nourish our pandemic-starved minds.

Twenty years ago, physicists set out to investigate a mysterious asymmetry in the proton’s interior. Their results, published today, show how antimatter helps stabilize every atom’s core.

An overlooked but powerful driver of cloud formation could accelerate the loss of polar sea ice.