Welcome to Broken Symmetry!

You've reached the blog of Dr Steven Thomson, condensed matter physicist and science writer. Here, I mostly write about research I'm interested in or involved with, life as a researcher, and sometimes I post pieces I've written for other websites or magazines about all aspects of physics and astronomy. Guest posts welcome! This blog is aimed at the general reader - for more technical information, see my academic homepage.

Selected Blog Posts

See details → Randomness Meets Precision How to make ultra-precise measurements with scrambled lasers
See details → Bring Me The Event Horizon How astronomers created a global radio telescope
See details → Flow Equations A new technique for studying disordered, interacting quantum matter
See details → Seeing Into the Quantum Heart of Matter Imaging individual atoms using quantum gas microscopes
See details → Ripples in Space-Time How gravitational waves are changing our view of the universe
See details → The Role of Disorder Under the (Quantum) Microscope How quantum gas microscopes can be used to explore a challenging new frontier