The term "superfluid quasicrystal" sounds like something a comic-book villain might use to carry out his dastardly plans.
In reality, it's a new form of matter proposed by theoretical physicists at The University of Texas at Dallas in a recent study published in the journal Physical Review Letters. Their study also describes a "recipe" for making the exotic materials in the lab.
Most people are familiar with the three fundamental states of matter: solid, liquid and gas. There are actually several more, including plasma, which is found inside the sun and other stars, and Bose-Einstein condensates, which are very dense and exist only at the most extreme cold temperatures.
A superfluid is an exotic state of matter with unusual properties. It has zero viscosity, which means it can flow across a surface and not slow down -- or lose any energy -- due to friction with the surface. Superfluids, such as liquid helium, must be cooled to extremely low temperatures for such properties to emerge.
"If your morning coffee was a superfluid, and you stirred it with a spoon, you could remove the spoon and the coffee would never stop moving," said Dr. Chuanwei Zhang, professor of physics in the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and corresponding author of the study. "Regular fluids will eventually stop due to friction with the cup."
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