Electronic structure as a research area focuses on the quantum-mechanical description of electrons in atoms, molecules, solids, and nanostructures, and on how this governs their structural, spectroscopic, and transport properties. It encompasses the development and application of theoretical methods such as density functional theory, wavefunction-based quantum chemistry, many-body perturbation theory, and quantum Monte Carlo to compute energies, charge densities, band structures, and excited states. The field underpins predictive materials design, catalysis, electronic and photonic device engineering, and strongly correlated systems research by linking microscopic electron behavior to macroscopic observables and emergent phenomena.
When a material heats up, its electrical resistance often rises. The harder question is what, exactly, is getting in the way. The electrons carrying the current may be scattered by vibrations of the material's atomic lattice, ...
Condensed Matter
Sep 16, 2026
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For decades, physicists have searched for dark matter, the invisible substance thought to make up roughly 85% of all matter in the universe. Although its gravitational influence shapes galaxies and the large-scale structure ...
General Physics
Sep 9, 2026
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Topological quantum materials combine unusual electronic states with properties such as magnetism or superconductivity, offering possibilities for future electronics and quantum technologies. Researchers at Tohoku University ...
Condensed Matter
Sep 9, 2026
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Imagine a construction site where the bricks are individual molecules and the "cranes" are microscopic needles so sharp they can feel a single atom. For decades, building at this scale was a laborious, time-consuming task ...
Nanomaterials
Sep 2, 2026
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Physicists at the University of Graz (Austria), in collaboration with colleagues from Marburg University and Forschungszentrum Jülich (Germany), have achieved a scientific breakthrough. For the first time, the generation ...
Condensed Matter
Sep 1, 2026
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Despite all the advertisements for engagement rings and necklace gifts, natural diamonds are imperfect. Their carbon atoms are arranged in a cubic lattice, but they nonetheless contain several types of crystallographic defects ...
A team of scientists from Caltech and Yale University has shown for the first time how to accurately quantify an important quantum phenomenon in metals, called the Kondo effect, for specific real materials. Unlike previous ...
Condensed Matter
Aug 25, 2026
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Superconductors are materials that carry electrical current with zero resistance below a specific critical temperature. In conventional superconductors, the transition to superconductivity generally occurs at very low temperatures.
Self-assembling, anthracene-based supramolecular nanofibers can enable excitons to migrate hundreds of nanometers, according to a new experimental finding by researchers at Science Tokyo. Coupling these nanofibers with a ...
Nanophysics
Aug 19, 2026
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A study has been published in Nature Communications that identifies an unusual regime of quantum oscillations in a three-dimensional topological insulator. The results show that, when subjected to temperatures near absolute ...
Condensed Matter
Aug 17, 2026
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