The open access articles featured in this celebratory collection have been selected for the great impact they have achieved in such a short period of time.

From achieving high downloads and citations to receiving significant media coverage, these papers show how our TA in the UK is increasing the visibility and impact of scientific research.

Join your fellow researchers who are shaping the future of science, and your articles could also be featured in news outlets such as The Science Times, BBC News and PhysOrg.

Find out if your institution is participating in this agreement to make sure your next paper gets the greatest exposure.

Is your institution not currently part of our Jisc agreement? You can recommend a transformative agreement to your librarian here.

 

Read the UK articles making an impact across our journal portfolio

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Roadmap  |  Open Access
The 2023 terahertz science and technology roadmap
John Cunningham, University of Leeds et al
2023 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys 56 223001 https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6463/acbe4c

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Letter  |  Open Access
Non-perturbative non-Gaussianity and primordial black holes
A. D. Gow, University of Portsmouth et al
2023 EPL 142 49001 https://doi.org/10.1209/0295-5075/acd417

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Paper  |  Open Access
JET D-T scenario with optimized non-thermal fusion
M. Maslov, UKAEA et al
2023 Nucl. Fusion 63 112002 https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326/ace2d8

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Roadmap  |  Open Access
2023 roadmap for potassium-ion batteries
Yang Xu, University College London et al
2023 J. Phys. Energy. 5 021502 https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7655/acbf76

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Paper  |  Open Access
Stability analysis of a non-singular fractional-order covid-19 model with nonlinear incidence and treatment rate
Mehmet Yavuz, University of Exeter et al
2023 Phys. Scr. 98 045216 https://doi.org/10.1088/1402-4896/acbe7a

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Paper  |  Open Access
Data quality up to the third observing run of advanced LIGO: Gravity Spy glitch classifications
C P L Berry, University of Glasgow et al
2023 Class. Quantum Grav. 40 065004 https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6382/acb633

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Roadmap  |  Open Access
Roadmap on spatiotemporal light fields
Yijie Shen, University of Southampton et al
2023 J. Opt. 25 093001 https://doi.org/10.1088/2040-8986/ace4dc

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Paper  |  Open Access
Bootstrapping multi-field inflation: non-Gaussianities from light scalars revisited
Dong-Gang Wang, University of Cambridge et al
2023 JCAP. 05 043 https://doi.org/10.1088/1475-7516/2023/05/043

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Benchmark |  Open Access
Quantum machine learning of large datasets using randomized measurements
Tobias Haug, Imperial College London et al
2023 Mach. Learn.: Sci. Technol. 4 015005 https://doi.org/10.1088/2632-2153/acb0b4

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Roadmap  |  Open Access
Roadmap for a sustainable circular economy in lithium-ion and future battery technologies
Gavin D J Harper, University of Birmingham et al
2023 J. Phys. Energy 5 021501 https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7655/acaa57

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Paper  |  Open Access
Cosmology with the EFTofLSS and BOSS: dark energy constraints and a note on priors
Pedro Carrilho, University of Edinburgh et al
2023 JCAP. 01 028 https://doi.org/10.1088/1475-7516/2023/01/028

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Paper  |  Open Access
CTTK: a new method to solve the initial data constraints in numerical relativity
Josu C Aurrekoetxea, University of Oxford et al
2023 Class. Quantum Grav. 40 075003 https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6382/acb883

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Roadmap |  Open Access
Roadmap on artificial intelligence and big data techniques for superconductivity
Mohammad Yazdani-Asrami, University of Glasgow et al
2023 Supercond. Sci. Technol. 36 043501 https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6668/acbb34

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Paper  |  Open Access
Concept of the generalized reduced-order particle-in-cell scheme and verification in an axial-azimuthal Hall thruster configuration
Maryam Reza, Imperial College London et al
2023 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 56 175201 https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6463/acbb15

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Topical Review  |  Open Access
Ultra-high field MRI: parallel-transmit arrays and RF pulse design
Sydney N Williams, University of Glasgow et al
2023 Phys. Med. Biol. 68 02TR02 https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6560/aca4b7

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Paper  |  Open Access
Deployable extrusion bioprinting of compartmental tumoroids with cancer associated fibroblasts for immune cell interactions
Corrado Mazzaglia, University of Cambridge et al
2023 Biofabrication. 15 025005 https://doi.org/10.1088/1758-5090/acb1db

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Letter |  Open Access
Robust simulation-based inference in cosmology with Bayesian neural networks
Pablo Lemos, University of Sussex et al
2024 Mach. Learn.: Sci. Technol. 4 01LT01 https://doi.org/10.1088/2632-2153/acbb53

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Paper  |  Open Access
Dirac gauge theory for topological spinors in 3+1 dimensional networks
Ginestra Bianconi, Queen Mary University of London
2023 J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 56 275001 https://doi.org/10.1088/1751-8121/acdc6a

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Paper  |  Open Access
Perspective on quantum bubbles in microgravity
Barry M Garraway, University of Sussex et al
2023 Quantum Sci. Technol. 8 024003 https://doi.org/10.1088/2058-9565/acb1cf

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Topical Review |  Open Access
A systematic comparison of deforestation drivers and policy effectiveness across the Amazon biome
Rachael D Garrett, University of Cambridge et al
2023 Environ. Res. Lett. 18 073001 https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acd408

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Mauro Paternostro, is a quantum physicist at the University of Palermo and Queen’s University Belfast, and an expert in quantum information processing and quantum technology. Working on the foundations of the subject, his team is doing pioneering research in cavity optomechanics, quantum communication and beyond. He is also editor in chief of the IOP Publishing journal Quantum Science and Technology.

IOP Publishing has a transformative agreement with your institution for funded open access publishing, how has that helped you?
I think it has been a game-changing agreement as far as the publication of our output is concerned. With the stringent criteria that the research councils have put on outputs supported by grants – from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) for instance – and the need for them to be fully accessible, and data to be fully available to the community, having a TA that guarantees open access is what we need. It’s great to have the peace of mind that IOP Publishing is a viable avenue for where my EPSRC-compliant outputs can be published. Apart from funding compliance, the IOP Publishing agreement removes the administrative burden of dealing with invoices for the article publication charges (APCs) which is a big relief for the scientists.

IOP Publishing (IOP) has a transformative agreement with Anelis Plus to enable a transition to open access publishing.

Who can benefit?
All corresponding authors that are current staff members, researchers (permanent, temporary and visiting), or students at one of the institutions below, at the point of submission, can publish open access at no cost to themselves. The corresponding author is the author that submits the manuscript and is responsible for communicating with the journal during the submission, peer review and publication process.

What’s included?

• Articles accepted will be eligible for transformative agreement funding to enable authors to publish open access with no cost to themselves
• Research paper, special issue, letter and review article types
• Included journals are those in lists A, B, and D. Click here for a full title list of eligible journals.

Please note

You may find our author guide for submitting under a transformative agreement helpful located in our Transformative Agreement hub.

Eligible institutions

Horia Hulubei Institutul Național de Cercetare-Dezvoltare în Fizică și Inginerie Nucleară
Institute of Space Science
Institutul Național de Cercetare-Dezvoltare pentru Fizica Materialelor
Institutul Național de Cercetare-Dezvoltare pentru în Microtehnologii
Institutul Național de Cercetare-Dezvoltare pentru Fizică Tehnică – IFT Iaşi
Institutul Național de Cercetare-Dezvoltare pentru Optoelectronica – INOE 2000
Institutul Național de Cercetare-Dezvoltare pentru Tehnologii Criogenice și Izotopice Ramnicu Valcea
Institutul Național de Cercetare-Dezvoltare pentru Tehnologii Izotopice și Moleculare
Institutul Național pentru Fizica Laserilor, Plasmei si Radiatiei
Unitatea Executiva Pentru Finantarea Invatamantului Superior a Cercetarii Dezvoltarii si Inovarii
Universitatea „Dunărea de Jos” din Galați
Universitatea de Vest din Timișoara
Universitatea Politehnica din București

Is your institution not listed here? Recommend open access funding to your library.

IOP Publishing (IOP) has a transformative agreement with two institutions in Malaysia to enable a transition to open access publishing.

Who can benefit?
All corresponding authors that are current staff members, researchers (permanent, temporary and visiting), or students at one of the institutions below, at the point of submission, can publish open access at no cost to themselves. The corresponding author is the author that submits the manuscript and is responsible for communicating with the journal during the submission, peer review and publication process.

What’s included?

• Articles accepted will be eligible for transformative agreement funding to enable authors to publish open access with no cost to themselves
• Research paper, special issue, letter and review article types
• Included journals are those in lists A, B, C and D. Click here for a full title list of eligible journals.

Please note
You may find our author guide for submitting under a transformative agreement helpful located in our Transformative Agreement hub

Is your institution not listed here? Recommend open access funding to your library.

Eligible instiutions
Universiti Malaya
Universiti Malaysia Perlis

Nana Liu is an associate professor and PI of the Quantum Information and Technologies (QIT) group in the Institute of Natural Sciences at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the University of Michigan-Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute. She received her PhD from the University of Oxford as a Clarendon Scholar and was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Center for Quantum Technologies in the National University of Singapore and the Singapore University of Technology and Design. She is the 2019 recipient of the MIT Technology Review’s 10 Innovators under 35 in the Asia-Pacific region. Her current research interests include quantum algorithms for scientific computing and quantum protocols relevant for a future quantum internet.

What is the focus of your research at the moment?
For the past two years, one my of main new research focuses has been on new methods for simulating ordinary and partial differential equations on quantum devices. These differential equations form the bedrock of almost all laws of physics, as well many applications to chemistry, biology and economics. Schrodinger’s equation, which is the foundation of quantum mechanics, is one such partial differential equation that quantum simulation was originally proposed to deal with, in particular for large dimensional problems. The question is, can quantum simulation also be helpful for other differential equations?

The answer we have found is yes, and to make this possible, we need a formalism to map any differential equation onto Schrodinger’s equations. We found that this is possible with the addition of only one extra spatial dimension and we call this method Schrodingerisation. It can be suitable for both nearer-term devices as well as large scale fault-tolerant quantum devices when they become available.

Schrodingerisation is one example in our general philosophy of finding new mathematical mappings that make our problem simpler by making small increases to dimensionality, which we can then put into a quantum device that can deal better with larger dimensions than classical devices. Apart from Schrodingerisation, we also have methods for turning uncertain problems into deterministic ones, nonlinear problems into linear ones and time-dependent problems into time-independent ones, all by adding a small number of dimensions to the original problem.

What do you consider to be the biggest advancement in quantum science to date?
Wow, that’s a hard question! That’s a really personal question I think and depends on what you care about. For me, all our understanding (about anything) is concerned with the arrangement of information. Yet information lives in physical matter and cannot be considered distinctly from physical laws that them. Landauer’s shorthand is `information is physical’. That’s what deeply attracts me to quantum information and computation and why I came into this field. There are of course so many more recent exciting developments, but I’ll stick with the oldies but goldies: quantum cryptographic protocols with quantum teleportation and quantum subroutines like phase estimation and Grover’s.

In your opinion, what could be the next big breakthrough for the field of quantum science and technology?
That’s the wonderful thing about breakthroughs, is that they are usually very surprising and unpredictable! Especially for theoretical developments, this is very hard to say because the really cool ones often come from asking questions in a very different way, with different underlying assumptions, so we might not even know these questions yet. For technological advancements, the questions might be there, but engineering difficulties might be colossal. Certainly a technological breakthrough most of us hope to see is a convincing pathway to large-scale fault-tolerant quantum computation, that is not too far into the future. We also hope for novel quantum algorithms for problems of societal interest that have substantial quantum advantage, and is not just some variation of phase estimation or amplitude amplification. This is a long-winded way to say I have no idea what will happen, but I like to keep open-minded and be joyfully surprised when breakthroughs come, no matter what forms they may take.

What role does the journal Quantum Science and Technology play in supporting research in the field?
I think QST serves an important role in the current quantum information and computation community, as the community evolves from a mostly theoretical focus to one that has genuine hope for quantum technologies becoming something tangible. Of course, at this early stage, theory and technology must move hand in hand and try to positively influence each other to make useful quantum technologies a reality. There are still a lot of theoretical developments – new protocols, new tools, new insights – necessary before we can reach this stage and QST is a perfect platform for this kind of work. There are not so many other journals that cater to this balance.

If you would like to mention any other insights we might have missed, please feel free to add that in.
Quantum research is evolving so rapidly, yet in some ways it is still rooted in some older traditions that might not fit so well the changing landscape. For example, while the theoretical computer science perspective in quantum computation rightfully dominated before we considered quantum computation as a potential technology, once we are in the realm of seeking technologically important algorithms, the scientific computing mindset should instead dominate. Otherwise, this hampers progress. However, this transition process is slow in the community, since people have been brought up to think in that particular way. One way to speed things up is to promote a more interdisciplinary perspective, which has not been so easy since the quantum information and computation community is actually relatively small. Given that it is already 30 years after Shor’s algorithm and no algorithm yet still truly rivals this one (can be argued, but not too much I think), it’s time to rethink about our approach and to welcome different opinions from different fields so we can make interesting progress.

Professor Kihwan Kim is a tenured professor at the Physics Department of Tsinghua University. He received his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees from Seoul National University. He then did postdoctoral work at the University of Innsbruck and the University of Maryland. Since joining Tsinghua University in 2011, he has pursued the development of quantum computation and quantum information science using trapped ions. He also raised many talented students, and under his guidance, more than 10 students have already received doctoral degrees and been pursuing their research careers.

What is the focus of your research at the moment?
My research mainly focus on developing trapped-ion system for quantum information science such as quantum computation and quantum simulation. In particular, we are considering reaching the level of quantum advantage with trapped ions by demonstrating the algorithms of quantum boson sampling or similar to random gate sampling.

What do you consider to be the biggest advancement in quantum science to date?
To my opinion, the biggest advancement in quantum science to date is related to the demonstration of quantum advantages. For the moment, only superconducting system and photonic systems were able to claim the quantum advantages.

In your opinion, what could be the next big breakthrough for the field of quantum science and technology?
Until now, quantum advantage has only been implemented in algorithms that have shown no utility, such as random gate sampling or conservation sampling. Even that is still controversial. While it is necessary to reach quantum advantage without any doubts or loopholes, the next big breakthrough would be using quantum computers to outperform classical methods on practically useful problems.

What role does the journal Quantum Science and Technology play in supporting research in the field?
I believe that the best way to support research is to provide a good review good quality papers and select the best ones so that they can be published.

 

Gyu-Boong Jo is a professor of Physics at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). His research primarily focuses on quantum simulation with atoms, specifically exploring unconventional quantum many-body systems. He is also involved in developing a programmable quantum simulation platform for quantum information processing using neutral atoms. Before joining HKUST, Gyu-Boong earned his Ph.D at MIT in 2010, followed by postdoctoroal training at the UC Berkeley.

What is the focus of your research at the moment?
My research primarily focuses on quantum simulation with neutral atoms, specifically exploring unconventional quantum many-body systems. I am also involved in developing a programmable quantum simulation platform for quantum information processing using neutral atoms.

What do you consider to be the biggest advancement in quantum science to date?
One of the most significant advancements in quantum science to date is the development of quantum computing. This technology has the potential to revolutionize many industries, including finance, pharmaceuticals, and logistics, by enabling complex calculations exponentially faster than classical computers. Of course, we need to wait a bit more and see, but there is no reason why we should be pessimistic.
Another major breakthrough has been the demonstration of quantum entanglement, which has the potential to enable quantum communication. These have opened up a whole new realm of possibilities in quantum science and are driving exciting research in the field.

In your opinion, what could be the next big breakthrough for the field of quantum science and technology?
The next big breakthrough for quantum science and technology could be the development of fault-tolerant quantum computers. Currently, quantum computers are highly fragile to environmental noise and accompanying errors, which limits their practical applications. However, if we can effectively correct errors in the quantum process, we could unlock the full potential of this technology.

What role does the journal Quantum Science and Technology play in supporting research in the field?
Indeed, Quantum Science and Technology is an interdisciplinary field. While many traditional journals have a defined scientific scope that may restrict the flexibility of discussions in this emerging field, I find that the journal Quantum Science and Technology effectively allows authors to address these challenges in a timely manner.

Chao-Yang Lu was born in December 1982 in Zhejiang, China. He obtained Bachelor’s degree from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in 2004, and PhD in Physics from the Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge in 2011. Since 2011, he is a Professor of Physics at USTC. His current research interest includes quantum computation, solid-state quantum photonics, multiparticle entanglement, quantum teleportation, superconducting circuits, and atomic arrays. His work on quantum teleportation was selected as by Physics World as “Breakthrough of the Year”. His work on single-photon sources and optical quantum computing was selected by Optical Society of American (OSA) as one of “Optics in 2016”, “Optics in 2017”, “Optics in 2019”, and “Optics in 2021”. His work on photonic quantum computational advantage was selected by APS Physics as “Highlight of the Year”, “A year of quantum highlights” by Physics World, and “World’s top 10 digital innovation technologies” by UNESCO. His work on refuting real-number formulation of quantum mechanics was selected by APS Physics as “Highlight of the Year”. He has been awarded as Fellow of Churchill College (2011), Hong Kong Qiu Shi Outstanding Young Scholars (2014), National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (2015), Nature’s top ten “science star of China” (2016), OSA Fellow (2017), Fresnel Prize from the European Physical Society (2017), AAAS Newcomb Cleveland Prize (2018), Huangkun Prize from Chinese Physical Society (2019), Nishina Asian Award (2019), Xplorer Prize (2019), IUPAP-ICO Young Scientist Prize in Optics (2019), OSA Adolph Lomb Medal (2020), APS Rolf Landauer and Charles H. Bennett Award in Quantum Computing (2021), World Economic Forum Young Global Leader (2021), James P. Gordon Memorial Speakership (2021), Achievement in Asia Award from OCPA (2022), He Liang He Li Science and Technology Innovation Award (2023), and New Cornerstone Investigator (2023). He is the Chair of Quantum 2020 and 2022 conferences. He is a Divisional Associate Editor of Physical Review Letters, and has served as an editorial board member in international journals such as Applied Physics Reviews, Quantum Science and Technology, ACS Photonics, PhotoniX, Advanced Photonics, Advanced Quantum Technology, Science Bulletin, and iScience.

What is the focus of your research at the moment?
Currently, our group is pushing for a large-scale photonic quantum computer along two directions: one is building increasingly larger boson samplers, hopefully this year reaching over 3000 photons; the other route is trying to make two individual single photons interact strongly enough to implement a deterministic logic, which can be used, for example, in simulating fractional quantum Hall effect. Meanwhile, my research field has expanded from single photons to single atoms, which are trapped and manipulated in optical tweezer. These ultracold atom arrays are a very interesting platform for both foundational studies and emerging quantum technologies.

What do you consider to be the biggest advancement in quantum science to date?
In the broad field of quantum science, I think the invention of transistor has the biggest impact to our society.

In your opinion, what could be the next big breakthrough for the field of quantum science and technology?
I am hoping to see increasingly more unconditional quantum advantage experiments in communication, computation, metrology, and so on.

 

Dr. Dong was born in 1969 at Dalian, China. He received his Ph.D. at Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China, in 1999. After that, Dr. Dong joined the Physical Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory of University of Oxford as a Visiting Professor, Kansas State University as Postdoc Fellow, the National Autonomous University of Mexico as a Visiting Professor, the Mexican Institute of Petroleum as Postdoc Fellow and Distinguished Visiting Professor, and the Superior School of Physics and Mathematics, National Polytechnic Institute (IPN) as full-time Professor through the program of excellent position, and he has a permanent position as Professor at IPN since 2007. He is the Regular Member of Mexican Academy of Sciences since 2012 and Visiting Professor at Louisiana State University in 2013. Dr. Dong was awarded the certificate by Pakistan president Mamnoon Hussain at 41th International Nathiagali Summer College in 2016. He received the maximum top prize “Presea Lazaro Cardenas” and was awarded by Mexico President Lic. Enrique Peña Nieto in President Palace in 2017.
Dr. Dong is SNI III (Mexico National Investigator maximum top level in Mexico) since 2019 and the (Academic, Chief) Editors and Editorial Board Members of over 10 International Journals. He has authored and co-authored more than 290 papers (JCR), one book Chapter, 5 edited books, two books published by Springer. The citations are more than 11000 and H-index 65 by Google Scholar.

What is the focus of your research at the moment?
Quantum Physics, particularly in quantum information and quantum optics.

What do you consider to be the biggest advancement in quantum science to date?
One notable breakthrough is the development and successful demonstration of quantum computing in quantum science to date. Several milestones mark the progress in quantum computing, including the demonstration of basic quantum algorithms, the development of error correction techniques to mitigate decoherence, and the creation of increasingly larger and more stable quantum processors. Additionally, advancements in quantum communication and cryptography have been significant.

In your opinion, what could be the next big breakthrough for the field of quantum science and technology?
Some potential areas where significant advancements could occur include:

1)Fault-tolerant quantum computing; 2) Quantum supremacy; 3) Quantum communication networks; 4)Quantum simulation; 5)Topological quantum computing; 6) Quantum machine learning and 7) Quantum sensors and metrology, etc.

What role does the journal Physica Scripta play in supporting research in the field?
Physica Scripta supports quantum research by publishing new findings, ensuring their quality through peer review, fostering collaboration among researchers, archiving important discoveries, and boosting visibility for quantum scientists. Through these efforts, the journal contributes to advancing knowledge and innovation in the quantum field.

If you would like to mention any other insights we might have missed, please feel free to add that in.
1) Quantum science serves as a catalyst for innovation and commercialization in the quantum technology industry.
2) Furthermore, Quantum science plays a crucial role in addressing the societal and ethical implications of quantum technologies. Moreover, quantum science contributes to the training and development of the next generation of quantum scientists and engineers.
3) Overall, quantum science and technology plays a multifaceted role in advancing research, fostering collaboration, driving innovation, addressing societal implications, and nurturing talent, making it a cornerstone of the quantum science and technology landscape.

Qin Li received her Bachelor degree and PhD degree both in Computer Science from Hunan Normal University, China in 2005 and Sun Yat-sen University, China in 2010, respectively. Since 2010, she been at Xiangtan University, China and become a professor in 2019. Prof. Qin Li has published more than fifty technical papers on quantum computation and quantum cryptography. At present her research interests are secure delated quantum computation, quantum algorithm, and quantum artificial intelligence.

What is the focus of your research at the moment?
I mainly focus on secure delegated quantum computation which is a combination of quantum cryptography and quantum computation. It needs a lot of money to build and maintain quantum computers so even if the first-generation practical quantum computers can be built in the future, they are most likely to be held by governments, big companies or academics institutions. Others may need to access them in a remote way. This is why it is important to protect the privacy of users when they delegate their tasks to quantum servers.

What do you consider to be the biggest advancement in quantum science to date?
For this question, maybe different persons have different opinions. I tend to consider that the quantum algorithms for factorizing big integers and solving discrete logarithm problems as proposed by Peter Shor as the biggest advancement in quantum science to date. There are no good candidates now if typical classical algorithms such as RSA are broken.

In your opinion, what could be the next big breakthrough for the field of quantum science and technology?
It is hard to predict. If I must say, I think the next big breakthrough may be to really solve a practical problem in a certain field on a specialized quantum computer. So it needs combined efforts of researchers and engineers in various fields.

What role does the journal Physica Scripta play in supporting research in the field?
Physica Scripta covers lots of topics in physics including quantum mechanics. Some readers or researchers who published their papers on it may have more of a general physics background therefore giving researchers who are interested in quantum science and technology more details about the recent developments in this area from a physics perspective. In fact, Physcia Scripta also can support the research in this field by designing special issues on quantum science and technology for researchers of different fields and promote cross-field communication and interdisciplinary interactions.