A replica-symmetry-breaking phase transition is predicted in a host of disordered media. The criticality of the transition has, however, long been questioned below its upper critical dimension, six, due to the absence of a critical fixed point in the renormalization-group flows at one-loop order. A recent two-loop analysis revealed a possible strong-coupling fixed point, but given the uncontrolled nature of perturbative analysis in the strong-coupling regime, debate persists.

Despite intense efforts it has remained unresolved whether and how interfacial spin-orbit coupling (ISOC) affects spin transport across heavy-metal (HM)-ferromagnet (FM) interfaces. Here we report conclusive experiment evidence that the ISOC at HM/FM interfaces is the dominant mechanism for "spin memory loss". An increase in ISOC significantly reduces, in a linear manner, the dampinglike spin-orbit torque (SOT) exerted on the FM layer via degradation of the spin transparency of the interface for spin currents generated in the HM.

The transition temperature T c of unconventional superconductivity is often tunable. For a monolayer of FeSe, for example, the sweet spot is uniquely bound to titanium-oxide substrates. By contrast for La 2−x Sr x CuO 4 thin films, such substrates are sub-optimal and the highest T c is instead obtained using LaSrAlO 4 . An outstanding challenge is thus to understand the optimal conditions for superconductivity in thin films: which microscopic parameters drive the change in T c and how can we tune them?

We develop a folding approach to study two-dimensional symmetry-enriched topological (SET) phases with the mirror reflection symmetry.

We present a high magnetic field study of NbP—a member of the monopnictide Weyl semimetal (WSM) family. While the monoarsenides (NbAs and TaAs) have topologically distinct left and right-handed Weyl fermi surfaces, NbP is argued to be “topologically trivial†due to the fact that all pairs of Weyl nodes are encompassed by a single Fermi surface. We use torque magnetometry to measure the magnetic response of NbP up to 60 tesla and uncover a Berry paramagnetic response, characteristic of the topological Weyl nodes, across the entire field range.

During transcription, RNA polymerase (RNAP) supercoils DNA as it translocates. The resulting torsional stress in DNA can accumulate and, in the absence of regulatory mechanisms, becomes a barrier to RNAP elongation, causing RNAP stalling, backtracking, and transcriptional arrest. Here we investigate whether and how a transcription factor may regulate both torque-induced Escherichia coli RNAP stalling and the torque generation capacity of RNAP.

An obstacle to understanding neural mechanisms of movement is the complex, distributed nature of the mammalian motor system. Here we present a novel behavioral paradigm for high-throughput dissection of neural circuits underlying mouse forelimb control. Custom touch-sensing joysticks were used to quantify mouse forelimb trajectories with micron-millisecond spatiotemporal resolution. Joysticks were integrated into computer-controlled, rack-mountable home cages, enabling batches of mice to be trained in parallel.

Many-body interactions in monolayer transition-metal dichalcogenides are strongly affected by their unique band structure. We study these interactions by measuring the energy shift of neutral excitons (bound electron-hole pairs) in gated WSe2 and MoSe2. Surprisingly, while the blueshift of the neutral exciton X0 in electron-doped samples can be more than 10 meV, the blueshift in hole-doped samples is nearly absent.

The field of miniature mechanical oscillators is rapidly evolving, with emerging applications including signal processing, biological detection1 and fundamental tests of quantum mechanics2. As the dimensions of a mechanical oscillator shrink to the molecular scale, such as in a carbon nanotube resonator3–7, their vibrations become increasingly coupled and strongly interacting8,9 until even weak thermal fluctuations could make the oscillator nonlinear10–13.

We report a systematic study of thickness-dependent superconductivity and carrier transport properties in exfoliated layered 2H-NbS2. Hall-effect measurements reveal 2H-NbS2 is a p-type metal with hole mobility of 1-3 cm2 V-1s-1. The superconducting transition temperature is found to decrease with thickness. However, we find that superconductivity is suppressed due to disorder resulting from the incorporation of atmospheric oxygen.