The 50 most-cited articles in Physics Today, 2024

A new type of metal has taken the scientific community by surprise. Classic concepts from atomic physics—the electrons’ orbitals and spin alignment—are key to understanding it.

The US faces a world with a large and growing number of drones and cruise missiles. For tactical defense, military leaders are beginning to adopt a new generation of weapons.

Inclusivity efforts are thwarted as faculty and institutions navigate new laws with unclear penalties.

The simultaneous occurrence of exotic phases, and the ability to easily tune them, has positioned magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene as one of the richest materials platforms in condensed-matter physics.

Even though the Navier–Stokes equations are deterministic, it seems that you cannot make predictions beyond a fixed time horizon, no matter how small the initial uncertainty.

In numerous physical systems, from tossed coins to black holes, the complexity arising from the coexistence of different outcomes limits our ability to make predictions.

Further improvements in hardware and software efficiencies may counteract an expected surge in demand for electricity needed to power the new large language models.

By improving the prediction, understanding, and communication of powerful events in the atmosphere and ocean, artificial intelligence can revolutionize how communities respond to climate change.

The Chinese American physicist led groundbreaking experiments that demonstrated parity violation and photon entanglement. Many in the physics community say Wu deserved more accolades in her lifetime.

A new goal for nuclear fusion is underway: Commercialize the nascent technology that first demonstrated net energy gain in 2022 at the National Ignition Facility.

Fluids confined to molecular-scale channels exhibit properties not seen on the macroscale. Research into angstrofluidics has only just begun to unlock the potential applications that the unique properties provide.

The road to the modern machine-learning marvels was paved with ideas from statistical mechanics and collective phenomena.

A major stumbling block on the road to light-based neural networks can be overcome by flipping the script on how data are encoded.

Carbon black, a key ingredient in ancient inks, is used today to make the porous electrodes found in many rechargeable batteries. Understanding how to control its microstructure can pave the way to better-performing batteries.

Getting humans to Mars is difficult enough. But things won’t be any easier after they arrive: The red planet’s climate and weather are anything but friendly.

After World War II, scientists applied the knowledge and experience they gained from nuclear weapons to nuclear astrophysics.

Seismic waves traversing the interior of the planet reveal continent-sized regions with distinct physical properties. Researchers are investigating what they are, how they got there, and what their role is in Earth’s dynamic convecting interior.

With theory-guided rotational spectroscopy measurements—and some help from nuclear spin—researchers can tell whether a hydrogen chloride molecule in a tiny amount of water is dissolved.

Research that combines fluid dynamics and climate science is uncovering the inner workings of the North Atlantic’s overturning circulation. Future changes to that circulation system could trigger major disruptions to global weather patterns.

After some two decades of advances in manufacturing processes, microLEDs have the quality and capabilities necessary for many display applications.

New physics and astronomy faculty are excited about active teaching, but they still need support to implement the ideas in their classes.

During a rocket’s liftoff, its extreme sound levels can damage launch structures, payload electronics, and even the rocket itself.

SETI’s birth during the Cold War may have prompted consideration of existential threats to humanity and proposals for using nuclear bombs to communicate with extraterrestrials.

A nuclear-physics laboratory is the exception and the focus of both hope and controversy.

Navigating a host of clear—and sometimes not-so-clear—responsibilities is critical to succeeding in academia.

One of the earliest applications that the new era of computing may be used for is the simulation of the quantum effects that drive chemical reactions.

Groups on both sides of the Iron Curtain hypothesized in the 1970s that a yet-unknown material makes up most of the mass in the universe.

For the past five years, the faculty in the department of atmospheric, oceanic, and Earth sciences at George Mason University has used a qualifying process that overcomes many of the shortcomings of traditional exams.

For the first time, the energy level of an atomic nucleus has been directly manipulated with a laser.

The evolution of specialized biological tools used by organisms tells a story about the environments that shaped them.

The world’s second-most-produced chemical is poised to grow beyond its use in fertilizers to become an efficient medium to carry green hydrogen across the oceans.

An era of exploration and discovery beneath the seafloor is coming to an end. Yet there is much more to learn.

Educators are creating new smartphone apps and designing new experiments for them.

The prizewinning research enhances understanding of nature’s molecular toolkit and enables the construction of novel proteins.

What’s the next career step for new recipients of physics bachelor’s degrees? Of physics PhDs? Data give some insights.

Experiments on the fermionic Hubbard model can now be made much larger, more uniform, and more quantitative.

The large wave caused by the dinosaur-killing asteroid impact eroded the seafloor and disturbed sediments in ocean basins far from the collision site.

Cost, construction time, and safety, security, and proliferation risks all figure in.

Some of the fastest processes in physical and biological systems can be studied by generating ultrashort electron pulses.

The birth of stars is tightly entangled with interstellar shocks, which makes shocked regions a paradise for astrochemistry.