Over the last 15 years, the content ofNature Physicshas covered an enormous breadth of subjects at the forefront of physics. The journal's past and present editors recount their favourite papers and what made chaperoning them to publication special.

In certain magnetic materials, atomic spins can collectively order into vortex-like patterns known as magnetic skyrmions. Such skyrmions are highly mobile and have a very small (typically below 100 nm) spatial extension — properties that have caught the attention of scientists developing a new data storage concept known as racetrack memory.…

Quasiparticles are an extremely useful concept that provides a more intuitive understanding of complex phenomena in many-body physics. As such, they appear in various contexts, linking ideas across different fields and supplying a common language.