Scientists have discovered a new state of matter in another dimension

About 60 years ago, the existence of supersolids was postulated. What was supposed? There was a supposed substance that had both solid and liquid state properties at the same time. Now talk study from temper nature Note that Supersolid states simultaneously exhibit properties typically associated with a solid and a superfluid.

As a solid, it has a crystalline arrangement, which appears as a periodic modulation of particle density; But unlike a typical solid also It has super fluid properties, as a result of the consistent coordination of particles throughout the system.

The authors of the research explained these countries Matthew Norcia, Claudia Politi, Lauritz Klaus, Elena Poli, Maximilian Soman, Manfred Mark, Russell Bisset, Luis Santos and Francesca Ferlaino, initially envisioned in the context of bulk solid helium, as a possible answer to the question whether a solid could have superfluid properties. Although superhardness has not been observed in solid helium (although much effort has been made), ultracold atomic gases provide an alternative method, which has recently allowed the observation and study of supersolids using dipole atoms.. However, in contrast to the phenomena proposed in helium, these gaseous systems have so far shown only super-hardness in one direction.

“with this result We demonstrate the extension of supersolid properties in two dimensions by preparing a supersolid quantum gas from dysprosium atoms on both sides of a structural transition similar to that of ionic chains and quantum wires, and theoretically in chains of dipole molecules.“, The researchers identified in the scientific paper. This opens the possibility to study rich excitation properties, including the formation of vortices and ground state phases with diverse geometries in a highly flexible and controllable system.

The team of physicists was able to generate, for the first time, a parallel method between laboratories in Universities of Innsbruck, Pisa and Stuttgart, Supersolid states of high-magnetic lanthanide atoms in frozen quantum gases. “Due to quantum effects, a gas of very cold atoms can spontaneously develop an arrangement of solid crystal and particle flow as a superfluid quantum fluid, that is, a fluid that is able to flow without any friction.“, It is to explain Francesca Ferlaino, one of the lead authors. That is, it has a crystal structure, but the particles inside it “flow” like a liquid, since they are delocalized.

The magnetic interaction causes the atoms to self-arrange in a kind of “droplet” and to organize themselves in a regular pattern. “What they have achieved is ‘persuasion’ a matter that tends to expand to be limited to a regular structure,” explained Juan José García Ripoll, a theoretical physicist at the Institute of Fundamental Physics, based on CSIC. Other experiments have been done but it is needed.This approach is based on the fact that the material somehow decides to reach this state. It is also a predictable and repeatable system, making it a new milestone in fundamental physics.“he added.

Other points of view, different angles

The property of these atoms that are contained within these arranged droplets that form a crystal structure is that “each particle is positioned by all the droplets, and is present at the same time in each droplet.”And Matthew Norcia of the Ferlino team decided. Basically, you have a system with a series of high-density regions (drops) that share the same unidentified atoms. That is, the same atoms are present in all droplets at the same time, creating a quantum wave, in a peculiar configuration that allows for effects such as non-friction flow—more perfect fluidity, colloquially—although there is also an order space.

But this study goes further than that. Until now, Supersolid states are observed in quantum gases only as a series of droplets, along one dimension. But, in collaboration with theorists Luis Santos, of Leibniz Universität Hannover, and Russell Bisset, of Innsbruck, the team was able to extend the phenomenon into two dimensions, broadening the horizons of research.. Something like being able to look at this new state from different angles. “For example, in an ultra-rigid 2D system, you can study how vortices form in the hole between several adjacent droplets,” Ferlaino added. These described vortices have not yet been theoretically proven, but they represent an important consequence of the excess liquidity.”

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