From Science Alert.com (Apr. 5):
Experiments carried out on a complex arrangement of magnetic particles have identified a completely new state of matter, and it can only be explained if scientists turn to quantum physics.
The messy structures behind the research show strange properties that could allow us to study the chaos of exotic particles - if researchers can find order in there, it could help us understand these particles in greater detail, opening up a whole new landscape for quantum technology.
Physicists from the US carried out their research on the geometrical arrangements of particles in a weird material known as spin ice.
Like common old water ice, the particles making up spin ice sort themselves into geometric patterns as the temperature drops.
There are a number of compounds that can be used to build this kind of material, but they all share the same kind of quantum property – their individual magnetic 'spin' sets up a bias in how the particles point to one another, creating complex structures.
So, unlike the predictable crystalline patterns in water ice, the nanoscale magnetic particles making up spin ice can look disordered and chaotic under certain conditions, flipping back and forth wildly. [read more]
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