Physicists have identified a connection between magnetism and an unusual state of matter known as the pseudogap. This phase appears in some quantum materials at temperatures just above where they become superconductors. The discovery may help scientists design new materials with valuable properties, including high-temperature superconductivity, where electrical current moves with no resistance.
To uncover this link, researchers used a quantum simulator cooled to temperatures barely above absolute zero. They observed a consistent pattern in how electrons affect the magnetic orientation of nearby electrons as the system cools. Since electrons can have spin up or down, these interactions shape the material’s magnetic behavior. The work marks an important advance in understanding unconventional superconductivity and involved close collaboration between experimental physicists at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in Germany and theorists, including Antoine Georges, director of the Center for Computational Quantum Physics (CCQ) at the Simons Foundation’s Flatiron Institute in New York City.
The team published its findings during the week of January 19 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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