 This Journal
Editorial information
Scope
Editorial board
Submission addresses
Pricing and ordering
Abstracted in
Request sample copy
Copyright and permissions
rop@iop.org
Submit an article
Related content
Linking to IOP journals
IOP Select
IOP Physics Reviews
IOP journal news
BEC Matters!
|
 |
Highlights of 2007
I am delighted to present a special collection of the very best articles published in
Reports on Progress in Physics during 2007. Articles were selected by the Editorial Board for their outstanding reviews of the field. These papers received the highest praise from our international referees and a high number of downloads from the journal website.
All of these articles are free to read until 31 December 2008.
These 10 articles are only a small sample of the wide range of content in
Reports on Progress in Physics which publishes across the whole of physics, covering:
- astrophysics and cosmology
- atomic, molecular and optical physics
- condensed matter and materials
- earth sciences
- metrology
- soft condensed matter and biological physics
- nuclear physics
- particle physics
Articles are designed to be accessible to specialists in other fields and form an ideal introduction to graduate students entering the subject.
Further journal information for readers, subscribers or authors can be found on the
journal home page
or you can e-mail the journal publishing team at
rop@iop.org.
Richard Palmer, Publisher
PAPERS
 |
|
|
| 1 |
Theory of surface plasmons and surface-plasmon polaritons
J M Pitarke, V M Silkin, E V Chulkov and P M Echenique
70 No 1 (January 2007)
Collective electronic excitations at metal surfaces play a key role in subjects ranging from physics and materials science to biology. This article focuses on a theoretical description of the many-body dynamical electronic response of solids, which underlines the existence of various collective electronic excitations at metal surfaces, such as the conventional surface plasmon, multipole plasmons, and the recently predicted acoustic surface plasmon. It also reviews existing calculations, experimental measurements, and applications.
|
|
|
|
| 301 |
Electron conduction in one-dimension
A Kawabata 70 No 2 (February 2007)
This article reviews recent developments in the theories of electron transport in one dimension and related experiments relevant to those theories. Electron-electron interaction effects are most important. Emphasis is on theories that can be understood with least mathematical knowledge and experiments whose the results are easily understood.
|
|
|
|
| 507 |
Agent-based models of financial markets
E Samanidou, E Zschischang, D Stauffer and T Lux 70 No 3 (March 2007)
This review deals with several microscopic (“agent-based”) models of financial markets which have been studied by economists and physicists. These models aim to reproduce (and possibly explain) the spectacular bubbles and crashes that occur. Financial markets dynamics give rise to universal scaling laws showing similarities with scaling laws for other systems with many interacting sub-units.
|
|
|
|
| 853 |
Fundamentalist physics: why Dark Energy is bad for astronomy
Simon D M White 70 No 6 (June 2007)
This essay argues that the convergence of studies of dark energy from the directions of high-energy physics and astronomy can be damaging for astronomy as the two communities have different methodologies and different scientific cultures. Dark energy is undeniably an interesting problem to tackle through astronomical observation, but it is one of many and not necessarily the one where significant progress is most likely to follow a major investment of resources.
|
|
|
|
| 1325 |
Making sense of non-Hermitian Hamiltonians
Carl M Bender 70 No 6 (June 2007)
In quantum mechanics the Hamiltonian H is normally taken to be Hermitian, which implies that its eigenvalues are real and the time-evolution operator exp(-iHt) is unitary. Non-Hermitian Hamiltonians can give a phenomenological description of dissipative processes, such as radioactive decay. The Hermiticity requirement may be replaced by the analogous condition of H having space-time reflection symmetry (PT symmetry) without violating any of the physical axioms of quantum mechanics. This article illustrates the ideas of PT symmetry using many quantum-mechanical and quantum-field-theoretic models.
|
|
|
|
| 1607 |
Spontaneous symmetry breaking as a basis of particle mass
Chris Quigg 70 No 7 (July 2007)
In the so-called Higgs mechanism, an elementary scalar field whose self-interactions select a vacuum state in which the full electroweak symmetry is hidden breaks the symmetry between electromagnetism and the weak force. It confers mass on the W and Z and opens the door to masses for the quarks and leptons. The mechanism will soon be put to the test in experiments that explore the Fermi scale of energy (around 1 TeV). This article sets some ‘big questions’ that will guide these explorations.
|
|
|
|
| 2157 |
How soft materials control harder ones: routes to bioorganization
Marshall Stoneham 70 No 7 (July 2007)
Ordered structures are remarkably common, even without direct human, guidance or direction. The ordering can be at the atomic scale, or on the macroscopic scale, or at the mesoscale. The term “self-organisation” is often used, but this description is facile, giving no hint as to the range or variety of mechanisms. Ordering can occur in circumstances, commonly associated with disorder, as in the irradiation of metals to high doses, it can also, occur when soft, flexible materials organise structures of harder, rigid structures. This review attempts to analyse some of these widely-varying behaviours, both to seek evidence of common underlying principles and to assess how organisation might be controlled, and with what level of accuracy.
|
|
|
|
| 2323 |
Imaging with terahertz radiation
Wai Lam Chan, Jason Deibel and Daniel M Mittleman 70 No 8 (August 2007)
Many new advances in the technology for generation, manipulation, and detection of terahertz radiation have led to new applications for terahertz imaging and sensing. Many of these applications exploit the ability of terahertz radiation to penetrate packaging and provide spectroscopic information about the materials within. This review provides a comprehensive description of the various techniques used in terahertz image formation, as well as discussing numerous examples to illustrate the many exciting potential uses for these emerging technologies.
|
|
|
|
| 2513 |
A thousand invisible cords binding astronomy and high-energy physics
Rocky Kolb 70 No 10 (October 2007)
In response to Simon White, this essay proposes that collaborations of astronomers and high-energy physicists on common problems such as dark matter and dark energy are beneficial for both fields, and that both astronomy and high-energy physics can advance by this close and still growing relationship.
|
|
|
|
| 2761 |
Theory of neutrinos: a white paper
R N Mohapatra et al 70 No 11 (November 2007)
This article by a large international collaboration reviews the present knowledge of neutrino masses and mixing and discusses ways to probe the new physics implied by recent data. It then summarizes what can be learned about neutrino interactions and new physics beyond the Standard Model from the various proposed neutrino experiments. It also raises the intriguing possibility that neutrino mass physics may be crucial to understanding the long-standing puzzle of the origin of matter-antimatter asymmetry.
|
|
