Researchers have, for the first time, described the properties of one-dimensional anyons and outlined how these particles can be observed using existing experimental setups.
Physicists have traditionally classified all elementary particles in our three-dimensional universe into two groups: bosons and fermions. Bosons typically include force-carrying particles such as photons, while fermions make up matter, including electrons, protons, and neutrons.
In lower-dimensional systems, however, this clear distinction begins to break down. Since the 1970s, scientists have predicted the existence of a third category of particles that fall between bosons and fermions, known as anyons. These particles were first observed experimentally in 2020 in ultra-thin, strongly magnetized semiconductor systems.
Building on that work, researchers from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) and the University of Oklahoma have now identified a one-dimensional system where anyons can exist and analyzed their theoretical properties.
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