🔬 Category

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

4940 papers

Condensed matter physics and materials science form a dynamic partnership, exploring how the collective behavior of atoms gives rise to the unique properties of solids and liquids. This field bridges the gap between fundamental quantum mechanics and the practical engineering of everything from flexible electronics to superconductors, turning abstract theories into tangible innovations that shape our daily lives.

At Gist.Science, we process every new preprint in this category directly from arXiv to make these complex discoveries accessible to everyone. Our team generates both plain-language overviews and detailed technical summaries for each paper, ensuring that researchers, students, and curious minds alike can grasp the latest breakthroughs without getting lost in dense jargon.

Below are the latest papers in condensed matter and materials science, organized by their most recent publication dates.

🔬 materials science

-Quantum Effects or Theoretical Artifacts? A Computational Reanalysis of Hydrogen's High-Pressure Phase Stability and Properties

This study demonstrates that using meta-GGA functionals (R2SCAN and SCAN0) instead of the standard GGA-PBE functional yields a more accurate high-pressure phase diagram for hydrogen by stabilizing molecular phases, eliminating spurious dynamical instabilities, and correcting artificial bond weakening, thereby suggesting that certain previously attributed quantum nuclear effects may actually be methodological artifacts.

Stefano Racioppi, Eva Zurek2026-06-16
🔬 materials science

Origin of trapped intralayer Wannier and charge-transfer excitons in moiré materials

This paper resolves discrepancies between continuum and ab initio models of moiré excitons by employing an atomistic Bethe-Salpeter equation framework to demonstrate that hBN encapsulation critically influences the competition between Wannier and charge-transfer characters, thereby determining the nature of the lowest-energy bright excitons in WS2_2/WSe2_2 heterobilayers and twisted WSe2_2 homobilayers.

Indrajit Maity, Johannes Lischner, Arash A. Mostofi, Ángel Rubio2026-06-16
🔬 materials science

A Geometric Pathway for Tuning Ferroelectric Properties via Polar State Reconfiguration

This study reveals that Li substitution in NaNbO3 enables a thermally driven geometric reconfiguration between coexisting polar states, which enhances the Curie temperature and induces piezoelectric hardening, establishing a general design principle for engineering ferroic properties via lattice geometry.

Hao-Cheng Thong, Bo Wu, Fan Hu, Pedro B. Groszewicz, Chen-Bo-Wen Li, Jun Chen, Mao-Hua Zhang, Dragan Damjanovic, Ben Xu (…)2026-06-16
🔬 materials science

A geometric basis for materials families in inorganic solids

This paper demonstrates that the thermodynamic stability, defect energetics, and elemental mixing of inorganic solids can be unified under a simple geometric framework where a seven-faceted polyhedron in high-dimensional composition space accurately captures the behavior of diverse materials families without requiring retraining or structural input.

Justin Tahmassebpur, Sarvesh Chaudhari, Cristóbal Méndez, Rushil Choudhary, Sudipta Kundu, Raymond E. Schaak, Héctor Abr (…)2026-06-16
🔬 materials science

Tuning Terahertz Optomechanics of MoS2 Bilayers with Homogeneous In-plane Strain

This study demonstrates that applying homogeneous in-plane tensile strain to MoS₂ bilayers induces a Poisson-driven contraction of the interlayer spacing, which significantly strengthens van der Waals interactions and enables the fine-tuning of terahertz interlayer breathing modes with exceptionally high Gruneisen parameters.

S. Patel, Jose D. Mella, S. Puri, Salvador Barraza-Lopez, H. Nakamura2026-06-16
🔬 materials science

Designing Strong and Broadband Nonreciprocal Thermal Radiation in Magnetic Topological Materials

This paper predicts that magnetic topological materials, particularly magnetic Weyl semimetals like Co3_3Sn2_2S2_2, can achieve strong, broadband, and magnetic-field-free nonreciprocal thermal radiation in the infrared regime, establishing a predictive framework and quantitative design rules for next-generation thermal devices.

Yiyang Jiang, Yufei Zhao, Linxiao Zhu, Binghai Yan2026-06-16
🔬 materials science

Precipitation strengthening: a collective multi-dislocation phenomenon

Through large-scale atomistic simulations, this study reveals that precipitation strengthening is not merely a result of individual dislocations cutting through or bowing around precipitates, but rather an emergent collective phenomenon driven by complex, concurrent multi-dislocation interactions that accumulate, store, and multiply across the material's microstructure.

Mahmudul Islam, Nicolas Bertin, Sylvie Aubry, Vasily V. Bulatov, Rodrigo Freitas2026-06-16