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Francisco A. Rodrigues
Published 2 January 2026
Citation Francisco A. Rodrigues 2026 EPL 153 21002
Inference and prediction are fundamental to the study of complex systems, where network data are often incomplete, inaccurate or obtained indirectly. In this paper, we review recent advances in network sampling and comparison, as well as in link prediction and network reconstruction from time series. We summarise key methodological developments and emerging approaches that integrate statistical and machine learning perspectives. We also outline promising research directions for enhancing the inference and prediction of complex networked systems.
Sauro Succi, Claudio Sanavio, Luca Cappelli and Peter Love
Published 20 January 2026
Citation Sauro Succi et al 2026 EPL 153 28001
Quantum algorithms for classical physics problems expose new patterns of quantum information flow as compared to the many-body Schrödinger equation. As a result, besides their potential practical applications, they also offer a valuable theoretical and computational framework to elucidate the foundations of quantum mechanics, particularly the practical value of the many-body Schrödinger equation in the limit of large number of particles, on the order of the Avogadro number. This idea is illustrated by means of a concrete example, the block-encoded Carleman embedding of the lattice Boltzmann (LB) formulation of fluid dynamics (CLB hereafter).
A. K. Wood
Published 2 January 2026
Citation A. K. Wood 2026 EPL 153 10001
Lectures are the backbone of undergraduate physics education and are likely to remain so for the foreseeable future. This means it is important that they provide the best possible educational experience for our students. A lecture can be defined as the gathering of students (typically in large numbers) in the same place and at the same time, for a teaching event led by an expert in the subject of study. However, the exact form that a lecture takes can vary widely. It may consist primarily of a didactic monologue from the lecturer, or it may involve students doing substantial amounts of discussing and problem solving, and anything in between. This variation has been accelerated in recent decades with the use of technology offering easy access to new pedagogies, together with the introduction of flipped and active learning approaches. In this article, I will first review the evidence for what makes teaching lectures effective from the field of physics education research. I will then focus on three key elements of a lecture which should be considered in order to optimise the learning and engagement of students: interactions between teacher and students, interactions between the students in small groups and the student experience of the lecture.
Tim Johnson and Mohammad Salahshour
Published 2 January 2026
Citation Tim Johnson and Mohammad Salahshour 2026 EPL 153 11001
The prisoner’s dilemma (PD) portrays the fundamental challenge of social interaction and ranks among the most-important models in the social sciences. Over the past two decades, the study of the PD has experienced a resurgence due to the introduction of concepts and techniques from statistical physics. In this Perspective, we recount the history of the substantive narrative underlying the PD to physicists who may not have encountered it yet and we show —on the narrative’s 75th anniversary— that the original PD narrative hinted at a solution to the very problem of cooperation that it sought to describe. These hints at a solution to the PD foreshadowed a fascinating stream of contemporary research, thus further establishing the richness of the PD’s narrative: 75 years after its inaugural articulation, the PD’s substantive narrative continues to impart new wisdom.
D. Bazeia and R. Menezes
Published 2 January 2026
Citation D. Bazeia and R. Menezes 2026 EPL 153 14001
This perspective deals with real scalar fields in two-dimensional spacetime. We focus on models described by one and two real scalar fields, paying closer attention to kinks and lumps, which are localized structures of current interest in high-energy physics and in other areas of nonlinear science. We briefly review some of the main results presented in the literature and then focus on some new issues concerning the compact and long-range behavior of solutions and the presence of geometric constraints, suggesting how they can be used in applications in other areas of nonlinear science.
Raiders of the lost anti-matter: Searching for CP violation using top quarks and Higgs bosons By R. Y. Peters
Thin-films–based sensors: Physics contribution to medicine, environment and food By Pedro Catalão Moura and Maria Raposo
Quantifying entanglement from the geometric perspective By Lisa T. Weinbrenner and Otfried Gühne
Shear viscosity to entropy density ratio: A powerful tool for gravity theories and strongly coupled fluids By M. Chiofalo, D. Grasso, S. Liberati and M. Mannarelli
Cooperation dynamics on higher-order networks: A brief review By Jihong Chen, Kuan Zou, Liming Zhang and Changwei Huang
The need for statistical physics in Africa: Perspective and an illustration in drug delivery problems By Mtabazi G. Sahini, Isaac Onoka, Said A. H. Vuai, Édgar Roldán, Hulda S. Swai and Daniel M. Shadrack
Recent developments and future perspectives in statistical mechanics of ecological systems By S. Azaele, A. Maritan and S. S. Suweis
Physics reveals and explains patterns in conflict casualties By Frank Yingjie Huo, Dylan J. Restrepo, Pedro D. Manrique, Gordon Woo and Neil F. Johnson
The non-Hermitian skin effect: A perspective By Julius T. Gohsrich, Ayan Banerjee and Flore K. Kunst
Network-based computational communication By Ming Huang, Jun-Ling Wang and Zi-Ke Zhang
A brief introduction to the inference of entropy production through the fluctuations of currents By A. Puglisi
Unveiling complexity: Statistical physics approaches to ecological communities By Ada Altieri and Silvia De Monte
Resilience in biomolecular networks By Tianyi Chen and Xueming Liu
The physics of seismic noise: A revolution in Earth imaging and monitoring By J. Starke, I. Wienk, R. Rousseau, N. Bontemps, L. Moreau and E. Larose
Successive lag synchronization on dynamical networks: A perspective By Jing Guan and Kezan Li
Particles and fields in minimal hydrodynamic models for active turbulence By Rahul Pandit and Kolluru Venkata Kiran
Graph neural networks for network science: A mini review By Jia Li, Yixiu Ji, Yu Zhang, Jie Ding, Cong Li and Xiang Li
Dissemination intelligence information on social media By Hao Liao, Jiwei Zhang, Wei Zhang, Zhen-Zhen Wang, Mingyang Zhou, Xiaoqun Wu and Naipeng Chao
Experimental realizations of information engines: Beyond proof of concept By Rémi Goerlich, Laura Hoek, Omer Chor, Saar Rahav and Yael Roichman
Ten years of the digital twin brain: Perspectives and challenges By Shuqi Guo, Ge Zhang, Xin Zeng, Yue Xiong, Yuanhang Xu, Yan Cui, Dezhong Yao and Daqing Guo
Attosecond microscopy —Advances and outlook By J. Vogelsang, A. Mikkelsen, C. Ropers, J. H. Gaida, M. Garg, K. Kern, J. Miao, M. Schultze and M. Ossiander
Harnessing individual nitrogen-vacancy centers with a compact and portable confocal microscope By I. Panadero, J. C. Guerra, E. Caravaca, F. J. Hidalgo, P. Acedo, C. de Dios and E. Torrontegui
Toward robust network controllability: Insights and future directions By Yang Lou, Lin Wang and Guanrong Chen
Perspectives on modelling epidemics with human mobility By Xin Lu, Jiawei Feng and Suoyi Tan
Reputation mechanisms and cooperative emergence in complex network games: Current status and prospects By Wei Tang, Hui Yang and Chun Wang
Global non-equilibrium thermodynamics for steady states like never before By R. Holyst, K. Giżyński, A. Maciołek, K. Makuch, J. Wróbel and P. J. Żuk
Evolutionary dynamics with random payoff matrices By Manh Hong Duong and The Anh Han
The absolute swampland By Astrid Eichhorn, Arthur Hebecker, Jan M. Pawlowski and Johannes Walcher
Scaling laws of urban heavy truck mobility By Xiao-Zhe Pang, Xu-Jie Lin, Yitao Yang, Erjian Liu, Xiang-Yu Jia, Ying-Yue Lv, Zile Guo, Yang Wang and Xiao-Yong Yan
A brief review on evolutionary game models for the emergence of fairness By Yanling Zhang, Yin Li and Feng Xiao
Correlated catalyst in quantum thermodynamics By Naoto Shiraishi
The unbearable lightness of restricted Boltzmann machines: Theoretical insights and biological applications By Giovanni di Sarra, Barbara Bravi and Yasser Roudi
Macroscopic arrow of time from multiscale perspectives By Mahendra K. Verma
CompLex: Legal systems through the lens of complexity science By Pierpaolo Vivo, Daniel M. Katz and J. B. Ruhl
Mobility-induced kinetic effects in multicomponent mixtures. By F. C. Thewes, M. Krüger and P. Sollich
Temporal coherences of atomic chaotic light sources: The Siegert relation and its generalisation to higher-order correlation functions. By M. Morisse, S. Joshi, J. Mika, J. C. C. Capella, R. Kaiser, R. Bachelard, L. Slodička and M. Hugbart
Dynamics of diseases spreading on networks in the forms of reaction-diffusion systems. By Gui-Quan Sun, Runzi He, Li-Feng Hou, Shupeng Gao, Xiaofeng Luo, Quanhui Liu, Yicheng Zhang and Lili Chang
Message-passing approach for percolation on the networked system: A mini-review. By Cheng Qian, Dan-Dan Zhao, Ming Zhong, Bo Zhang, Hao Peng and Wei Wang
Perspective on physical interpretations of Rényi entropy in statistical mechanics. By Misaki Ozawa and Nina Javerzat
Complex phases in quantum mechanics. By Carl M. Bender and Daniel W. Hook
Information scrambling —A quantum thermodynamic perspective. By Akram Touil and Sebastian Deffner
Tuning of magnetic bistability and domain wall dynamics in magnetic microwires. By Arcady Zhukov, Paula Corte-Leon, Ahmed Talaat, Juan Maria Blanco, Alvaro Gonzalez, Alfonso García-Gomez and Valentina Zhukova
Ultracold atomic spin mixtures in ultrastable magnetic field environments. By Riccardo Cominotti, Chiara Rogora, Alessandro Zenesini, Giacomo Lamporesi and Gabriele Ferrari
Evolutionary dynamic of division of labor games. By Chunyan Zhang and Ziheng Wang
Interplay of synchronization and cortical input in models of brain networks. By Jakub Sawicki and Eckehard Schöll
Multifactorial effects on bounded rational decision-making. By Dun Han and Xiang Li
Advanced progress of network resilience. By Min Liu, Qiang Guo and Jianguo Liu
Atomic topological quantum matter using synthetic dimensions. By A. Fabre and S. Nascimbene
Synchronization on higher-order networks. By Haoran Liu, Jin Zhou, Bo Li, Meng Huang, Jun-an Lu and Dinghua Shi
Interfacial instabilities in confined displacements involving non-Newtonian fluids. By Vaibhav Raj Singh Parmar and Ranjini Bandyopadhyay
Accelerations of large inertial particles in turbulence. By Yaning Fan, Cheng Wang, Linfeng Jiang, Chao Sun and Enrico Calzavarini
Ultracold atoms carrying orbital angular momentum: Engineering topological phases in lattices. By E. Nicolau, G. Pelegrí, J. Polo, A. M. Marques, A. J. Daley, J. Mompart, R. G. Dias and V. Ahufinger
Dynamic modeling of neuromodulation techniques: Towards elaboration and individual specificity. By Ying Yu, Fang Han and Qingyun Wang
Elasticity, plasticity and screening in amorphous solids: A short review. By Avanish Kumar and Itamar Procaccia
Quantum control by effective counterdiabatic driving. By Francesco Petiziol, Florian Mintert and Sandro Wimberger
Augmented dynamics of nonlinear systems: A review. By Nirmal Punetha, Anjuman Ara Khatun, Haider Hasan Jafri, Awadhesh Prasad and Manish Dev Shrimali
Cooperation dynamics in multiple correlated games: A review. By Ji Quan, Xiao Jian Ma, Shengjin Cui and Xianjia Wang
Coupled propagation dynamics on complex networks: A brief review. By Zhishuang Wang, Haoxian Li, Jiaxing Chen, Zhiyong Hong, Qian Yin and Chengyi Xia
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Copyright© 2025 – EPL Association
