Scientists have created a supersolid state of matter in a new dimension

It’s time for an upgrade.

Most of us are familiar with the three common states of matter, solid, liquid, and gas, in addition to the uncommon fourth: plasma. But ongoing research with a new alien state called “supersolid”, which was verified a few years ago, has reached a critical dead end: Scientists have created it in a new two-dimensional form, for the first time, according to a report. recent study. published in the journal Nature.

And that opens up a whole new spectrum of quantum weirdness.

Upgrade to two-dimensional supersolids

Note: Supersolids are not an optimized version of solids. Basically, they are solids whose atoms are arranged in a rigid crystal structure, just like typical solids. But, oddly enough, supersolids can also flow with zero viscosity, like a superfluid, which sounds like two paradoxical qualities to possess. Scientists had speculated that this might be possible since the 1960s, and in 2017 the material was experimentally confirmed. The (more) recent study saw a set of research teams pooling their resources to create supersolids using another different state of matter, known as Bose-Einstein condensate ( BEC). These are composed of a cloud of gas with a low density of atoms cooled to temperatures close to absolute zero. When they get this cold, they exhibit bewildering quantum quirks that aren’t typically seen at these relatively macro scales.

In these ultra-frosty cases, every atom of the BEC exists at every point inside the cloud, simultaneously, in a condition called delocalization. In previous experiments, scientists created supersolids that only existed in one dimension, which meant they could only flow in a poor direction. But the research team at the Universität Innsbruck gave the new state of matter an extra dimension in which to play, which is like trading a string for a dollar bill. This multidimensional BEC was created from dysprosium atoms, with magnetic interactions between the atoms leading to an autonomous arrangement into droplets, which themselves self-organize into a grid. “Normally you would think that each atom would be in a specific droplet, with no way to move between them,” study author Matthew Norcia said in a New Atlas report.

Two-dimensional supersolids open a new range of quantum weirdness

“However, in the supersolid state, each particle is delocalized onto all the droplets existing simultaneously in each droplet,” Norcia added, in the report. “So basically you have a system with a series of high density regions (the droplets) that all share the same delocalized atoms.” The research team also added that this breakthrough could allow physicists to examine a whole new spectrum of quantum weirdness that we couldn’t expect to see in the behavior of a one-dimensional supersolid. “For example, in a two-dimensional supersolid system, one can study how vortices form in the hole between several adjacent droplets.”

“These theoretically described vortices have not yet been demonstrated, but they represent an important consequence of superfluidity,” added Norcia. The initial discovery of supersolids was accomplished by researchers at MIT by combining the traits of solid matter with those of superfluids. And, that only four years have elapsed between the creation of a new state of matter and its upgrade to its new two-dimensional splendor is testament to the wealth of scientific discovery that awaits those who wish to explore the quantum possibilities made available through this accomplishment.