A new way to create a crystalline structure called a “density wave”

 



A density wave (DW) is a fundamental type of long-range order in quantum matter tied to self-organization into a crystalline structure. Although density waves are seen in a wide range of materials, such as metals, insulators, and superconductors, studying them has proven challenging, particularly when this order (the patterns of the wave’s particles) coexists with other types of organization, such as superfluidity, which allows particles to flow without resistance.

Scientists at EPFL have found a new way to create a “density wave” in an atomic gas. The findings could lead to a better understanding of the behavior of quantum matter.

Professor Jean-Philippe Brantut at EPFL said, “Cold atomic gases were well known in the past for the ability to ‘program’ the interactions between atoms. Our experiment doubles this ability!”

To study this interaction, Brantut, and his colleagues created a “unitary Fermi gas,” a thin gas of lithium atoms that has been cooled to incredibly low temperatures and in which atoms frequently clash

The scientists next placed this gas in an optical cavity, a tool to keep light constrained in a small area for a long time. Two facing mirrors that reflect incoming light back and forth between them countless times make up optical cavities, which enable light particles, or photons, to accumulate inside the cavity.

In the study, the researchers employed the cavity to make the Fermi gas’s particles interact over great distances: no matter how far away it is from the first atom, the gas’ second atom will always absorb the photon that the first atom’s first emits and bounces off of it onto the mirrors. The atoms form a density wave pattern when an adequate amount of photons are collectively released and reabsorbed – readily controlled in the experiment.


Brantut said, “The combination of atoms colliding directly with each other in the Fermi gas, while simultaneously exchanging photons over a long distance, is a new type of matter where the interactions are extreme. We hope what we see there will improve our understanding of some of the most complex materials encountered in physics.”

#DensityWaveCrystal#CrystalInnovation#WaveFormCrystals#CrystallineMetamorphosis#EnergeticLatticeArt#SculptingAtoms#WaveMatrixMaterials#SymmetryRipples#CrystalHarmonics#ReimaginingSolids



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

From black holes to sands: Application of holographic duality to granular matter

Image
  International Conference on Condensed Matter Physics  Researchers from the Institute of Theoretical Physics (ITP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CA S) and Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) have found that granular matter (such as sand) and some black hole models display similar nonlinear effects. The bridge between the two is the holographic duality. Holographic duality allows one to map unsolved physical problems to tractable higher-dimensional gravitational counterparts and vice versa. The mapping between different dimensions resembles the optical holographic projection technique, hence the name. Although the holographic duality originated from string theory and was part of the quest for a consistent theory of quantum gravity, it has also been widely applied to quantum chromodynamics, condensed matter physics, and quantum information. In this work, the idea of holographic duality is extended to a concrete type of athermal, disordered solids—granular materials. Sinc...
Read more

Time Crystals: A New Form of Matter That Could Change Everything

Image
Of all the science-fiction-sounding names that have come to fruition in recent years, perhaps none is as mysterious or seemingly fictitious as time crystals. The name evokes something between Back to the Future and Donnie Darko, and the reality is perhaps crazier than either. Two separate groups of scientists recently reported they observed time crystals, which lends credence to the idea that this theoretical state of matter is something humans can actually create and observe. And indeed, time crystals can be grown in a child’s bedroom. But, it requires nuclear sensors and lasers to help time crystals reach their full potential and then measure and observe them. This combination of dramatic scientific terms and shockingly simple objects is a great analogy for time crystals as a whole. Read on to understand what they are and how they might affect our lives.   What Are Time Crystals? Time crystals are systems of atoms that arrange themselves in time the way more traditional solids cr...
Read more

Viable superconducting material created at low temperature and low pressure

Image
International Conference on Condensed Matter Physics In a historic achievement, University of Rochester researchers have created a superconducting material at both a temperature and pressure low enough for practical applications. "With this material, the dawn of ambient superconductivity and applied technologies has arrived," according to a team led by Ranga Dias, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering and physics. In a paper in Nature, the researchers describe a nitrogen-doped lutetium hydride (NDLH) that exhibits superconductivity at 69 degrees Fahrenheit (20.5 degrees Celsius) and 10 kilobars (145,000 pounds per square inch, or psi) of pressure. Although 145,000 psi might still seem extraordinarily high (pressure at sea level is about 15 psi), strain engineering techniques routinely used in chip manufacturing, for example, incorporate materials held together by internal chemical pressures that are even higher. Scientists have been pursuing this breakthrough in c...
Read more