Issues
Physics Update
Reference Frame
Letters
Pu Breeders in the Sky Not a Burning Issue after All
‘Shrinking Science’ Revisited
Search and Discovery
Oscillating Granular Layers Produce Stripes, Squares, Hexagons…
Experiments with vertically oscillating thin layers of granular particles show robust pattern formation. Studying the pattern dynamics may yield insight into basic mechanisms of granular flow and connect these patterns to those found in other dissipative systems.
Space‐Based Telescopes See Primordial Helium in Spectra of Distant Quasars
Looking way back in time, astronomers have found evidence of the primordial gases—first, hydrogen, and now, with the help of space‐based telescopes, the more elusive helium.
Articles
Quantum Information and Computation
A new quantum theory of communication and computation is emerging, in which the stuff transmitted or processed is not classical information, but arbitrary superpositions of quantum states.
Helioseismology
Observation and analysis of the vibrations of the Sun allow us to probe its interior structure and dynamics to test and expand our understanding of physics and astrophysics.
Julian Schwinger: Prodigy, Problem Solver, Pioneering Physicist
He made major contributions to atomic, nuclear and particle physics, statistical mechanics, QED and field theory, and discovered many of the principles and methods we now take for granted.