Home > Press > Exotic insulator may hold clue to key mystery of modern physics: Johns Hopkins-led research shows material living between classical and quantum worlds
Abstract:
Experiments using laser light and pieces of gray material the size of fingernail clippings may offer clues to a fundamental scientific riddle: What is the relationship between the everyday world of classical physics and the hidden quantum realm that obeys entirely different rules?
"We found a particular material that is straddling these two regimes," said N. Peter Armitage, an associate professor of physics at the Johns Hopkins University who led the research for a paper just published in the journal Science. Six scientists from Johns Hopkins and Rutgers University were involved in the work on materials called topological insulators, which can conduct electricity on their atoms-thin surface, but not in their insides.
Topological insulators were predicted in the 1980s, were first observed in 2007 and have been studied intensively since. Made from any number of hundreds of elements, these materials have the capacity to show quantum properties that usually appear only at the microscopic level, but here appear in a material visible to the naked eye.
The experiments reported in Science establish these materials as a distinct state of matter "that exhibits macroscopic quantum mechanical effects," Armitage said. "Usually, we think of quantum mechanics as a theory of small things, but in this system quantum mechanics is appearing on macroscopic length scales. The experiments are made possible by unique instrumentation developed in my laboratory."
In the experiments reported in Science, dark gray material samples made of the elements bismuth and selenium - each a few millimeters long and of different thicknesses - were hit with "THz" light beams that are invisible to the unaided eye. Researchers measured the reflected light as it moved through the material samples, and found fingerprints of a quantum state of matter.
Specifically, they found that as the light was transmitted through the material, the wave rotated a specific amount, which is related to physical constants that are usually only measureable in atomic scale experiments. The amount fit the predictions of what would be possible in this quantum state.
The results add to scientists' understanding of topological insulators, but also may contribute to the larger subject that Armitage calls "the central question of modern physics:" What is the relationship between the macroscopic classical world and the microscopic quantum world from which it arises?
Scientists since the early 20th century have struggled with the question of how one set of physical laws governing objects above a certain size can co-exist alongside a different set of laws governing the atomic and subatomic scale. How does classical mechanics emerge from quantum mechanics, and where is the threshold that divides the realms?
Those questions remain to be answered, but topological insulators could be part of the solution.
"It's a piece of the puzzle," said Armitage, who worked on the experiments along with Liang Wu, who was a graduate student at Johns Hopkins when the work was done, Maryam Salehi of the Rutgers University Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and Nikesh Koirala, Jisoo Moon and Sean Oh of the Rutgers University Department of Physics and Astronomy.
###
The experiments were supported by the Army Research Office Grant W911NF-15-1-0560, with additional support by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation through grant GBMF2628.
####
For more information, please click here
Contacts:
Arthur Hirsch
443-997-9909
Copyright © Johns Hopkins University
If you have a comment, please Contact us.Issuers of news releases, not 7th Wave, Inc. or Nanotechnology Now, are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.
Related Links |
Related News Press |
Quantum Physics
Simulating magnetization in a Heisenberg quantum spin chain April 5th, 2024
Physics
Simulating magnetization in a Heisenberg quantum spin chain April 5th, 2024
News and information
Simulating magnetization in a Heisenberg quantum spin chain April 5th, 2024
NRL charters Navy’s quantum inertial navigation path to reduce drift April 5th, 2024
Discovery points path to flash-like memory for storing qubits: Rice find could hasten development of nonvolatile quantum memory April 5th, 2024
Govt.-Legislation/Regulation/Funding/Policy
NRL charters Navy’s quantum inertial navigation path to reduce drift April 5th, 2024
Discovery points path to flash-like memory for storing qubits: Rice find could hasten development of nonvolatile quantum memory April 5th, 2024
Chemical reactions can scramble quantum information as well as black holes April 5th, 2024
Possible Futures
Discovery points path to flash-like memory for storing qubits: Rice find could hasten development of nonvolatile quantum memory April 5th, 2024
With VECSELs towards the quantum internet Fraunhofer: IAF achieves record output power with VECSEL for quantum frequency converters April 5th, 2024
Discoveries
Chemical reactions can scramble quantum information as well as black holes April 5th, 2024
New micromaterial releases nanoparticles that selectively destroy cancer cells April 5th, 2024
Utilizing palladium for addressing contact issues of buried oxide thin film transistors April 5th, 2024
Announcements
NRL charters Navy’s quantum inertial navigation path to reduce drift April 5th, 2024
Discovery points path to flash-like memory for storing qubits: Rice find could hasten development of nonvolatile quantum memory April 5th, 2024
Interviews/Book Reviews/Essays/Reports/Podcasts/Journals/White papers/Posters
Simulating magnetization in a Heisenberg quantum spin chain April 5th, 2024
Discovery points path to flash-like memory for storing qubits: Rice find could hasten development of nonvolatile quantum memory April 5th, 2024
Military
NRL charters Navy’s quantum inertial navigation path to reduce drift April 5th, 2024
What heat can tell us about battery chemistry: using the Peltier effect to study lithium-ion cells March 8th, 2024
New chip opens door to AI computing at light speed February 16th, 2024
Grants/Sponsored Research/Awards/Scholarships/Gifts/Contests/Honors/Records
Discovery points path to flash-like memory for storing qubits: Rice find could hasten development of nonvolatile quantum memory April 5th, 2024
Chemical reactions can scramble quantum information as well as black holes April 5th, 2024
Research partnerships
Discovery points path to flash-like memory for storing qubits: Rice find could hasten development of nonvolatile quantum memory April 5th, 2024
Researchers’ approach may protect quantum computers from attacks March 8th, 2024
'Sudden death' of quantum fluctuations defies current theories of superconductivity: Study challenges the conventional wisdom of superconducting quantum transitions January 12th, 2024
The latest news from around the world, FREE | ||
Premium Products | ||
Only the news you want to read!
Learn More |
||
Full-service, expert consulting
Learn More |
||