Something strange is afoot in Silke Bühler Paschen’s lab at the Vienna University of Technology. The walls of the room are plastered in copper foil to keep out electromagnetic waves. A blue refrigerator dangles through a hole in the ceiling, suspended from robotic shock absorbers that precisely counteract the slightest vibrations, including from subway cars passing deep underground. Condensation drips down the fridge into a Minion-themed kiddie pool. Inside, a hair-thin sample of an exotic material is cooled to thousandths of a degree above absolute zero. What happens within this material, and the way it conducts electricity, is one of the biggest mysteries in condensed matter physics.
The electrons begin their journey through Paschen’s lab from an ordinary wall outlet. According to the standard theory of electricity, they migrate individually or in small clusters through the wires leading to the refrigerator. But once the electrons reach the sample—a compound of ytterbium, rhodium, and silicon—this simple picture breaks down. The sample belongs to a class of materials that physicists call “strange metals.” For 4 decades, they’ve puzzled over the fact that in these compounds, the standard theory of electricity just doesn’t work.
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