When we think of the states of matter, the solids, liquids and gases that we encounter in our daily lives usually come to mind. However, scientists from the United States and China recently made a discovery that goes beyond these conventional categories.
They have found a new exotic state of matter in the quantum realm at extremely small scales. This new player on the field has been named the quantum state. chiral bose-liquid.
New discovery about the quantum world shocks scientists
To understand this discovery, it is important to remember that states of matter are characterized by the way particles interact with each other, leading to different behaviors and structures.
We can imagine a lively party in which the guests, who represent our particles, choose their dance style, from structured movements of solids to fluid steps of liquids and gases, passing through the contagious energy of plasmas.
However, in quantum dance, things get even stranger. We can imagine a game of quantum musical chairs with electrons, facilitated by a system quantum frustrating.
This frustration arises from built-in constraints that inhibit the usual interactions between particles.
Image: Rare Earth/Reproduction
Discovering a new state of matter
Just like at a party, the electrons in this system are constantly looking for a place to settle down.
Theoretical physicist Tigran Sedrakyan of the University of Massachusetts Amherst compares this process to a game of musical chairs designed to frustrate electrons:
“Instead of each electron having a specific chair to sit in, they now have several possibilities and move around restlessly in search of a seat,” explains.
The experimental setup consisted of a semiconductor device with two layers: an upper layer with abundant electrons and a lower layer with holes that were expected to be filled by the electrons.
However, there was a catch: there weren’t enough holes to accommodate all the electrons. To observe this frenetic dance of electrons, the team used an extremely strong magnetic field. This allowed them to witness the emergence of the new state of matter, the chiral bose-liquid state.
Lingjie Du, a physicist at Nanjing University in China, explains that “at the edge of the semiconductor bilayer, electrons and holes move at the same speeds,” resulting in a propeller-like transport motion.
Practical applications
This new state of matter has intriguing properties, such as the ability of electrons to freeze in a predictable pattern, with a fixed spin direction, at an extremely low temperature.
We can imagine a dancer maintaining his or her position regardless of changes in the music. This characteristic could have implications for quantum-level digital information storage systems.
Even more fascinating is the prospect of long-range quantum entanglement, in which external influence on one electron can affect all other electrons in the system.
It’s like a chain reaction on the dance floor, where one movement triggers a synchronized response. This characteristic can be explored in quantum technology.
Despite the complex physics involved, each discovery of extraordinary new states that exist beyond our conventional understanding brings us one step closer to a more comprehensive understanding of our Universe.
As Sedrakyan points out, “we find quantum states of matter at the limits, and they are much wilder than the three classical states we encounter in our everyday lives.”
So next time you’re at a party, consider the quantum dance of particles. The discovery of the chiral Bose-liquid state reminds us that the quantum world is partying like crazy!
