topological properties tagged posts

New state of matter discovered in a quantum material

three people in a physics lab, in the center a technical device with metallic spiral
In the Microkelvin Lab
Silke Bühler-Paschen (left), Diego Zocco and Diana Kirschbaum

At TU Wien, researchers have discovered a state in a quantum material that had previously been considered impossible. The definition of topological states should be generalized.

The work is published in Nature Physics.

Quantum physics tells us that particles behave like waves and, therefore, their position in space is unknown. Yet in many situations, it still works remarkably well to think of particles in a classical way—as tiny objects that move from place to place with a certain velocity.

When physicists describe how electric current flows through metals, for example, they imagine electrons racing through the material and being accelerated or deflected by electromagnetic fields.

Even mo...

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