Physicists just gifted us ‘quantum spin liquid,’ a weird new state of matter



Atoms that are essentially locked in an ordered framework make up solids. On the other hand, atoms in a liquid can freely move past and around one another. But consider atoms that are continually shifting magnetic messes and remain non-frozen, similar to those in a liquid.

The result is a quantum spin liquid, a hitherto unheard-of quantum strangeness state of matter. Researchers have now achieved this state in the lab by carefully manipulating atoms. On December 2, the researchers published their findings in the journal Science.

For years, scientists had debated several spin liquids ideas. The project's coordinator and one of the paper's authors, Harvard University physicist Giulia Semeghini, adds, "But we really got extremely interested in this when these theorists, here at Harvard, eventually established a mechanism to actually make the quantum spin liquids."

The laws of quantum mechanics can twist atoms into a variety of exotica when applied under severe circumstances that are not generally observed on Earth. Consider degenerate matter, which is found at the cores of dying stars like neutron stars and white dwarfs, where intense pressure transforms atoms into slurries of subatomic particles. Another example is the Bose-Einstein condensate, where several atoms come together to operate as one by merging at very low temperatures (its creation won the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physics).

The most recent addition to that bestiary of cryptid states is the quantum spin liquid. Its atoms are always in motion and don't solidify into any kind of organized form.

The term "spin" in the name alludes to a quality that each particle possesses—either an up or a down motion—that results in magnetic fields. Every spin of a typical magnet carefully points up or down. On the other hand, a third spin is present in a quantum spin liquid. This avoids the formation of coherent magnetic fields.

Because of this and the mysterious laws of quantum mechanics, the spins are always in several places at once. It is difficult to determine whether you have a quantum liquid or, if you have, what characteristics it possesses, by looking at a small number of particles.

Scientists have been attempting to understand quantum spin liquids ever since a physicist by the name of Philip W. Anderson originally postulated them in 1973. To produce and observe this kind of situation, numerous experiments were conducted. But in reality, this has proven to be quite difficult, says Mikhail Lukin, a Harvard University physicist and one of the paper's authors.

A new weapon had been added to the Harvard researchers' toolbox: a "programmable quantum simulator." In essence, it's a tool that enables them to interact with individual atoms. Researchers can move atoms about a two-dimensional grid like magnets on a blackboard by using laser beams that are very precisely targeted.

According to Semeghini, "We can adjust the position of each atom independently." "We can place them individually in any configuration we like."

In addition, the researchers made use of a phenomenon known as quantum entanglement to really determine whether they had successfully constructed a quantum spin liquid. They electrified the atoms, which then started interacting, reflecting changes in one atom's characteristic in another. The scientists were able to obtain the necessary validation by examining those linkages.

The appeal of generating abstract matter for the purpose of creating abstract matter may be apparent in all of this. According to Lukin, "We can kind of poke, play, touch, and even in some ways talk to this state, manipulate it, and make it do what we want." What's truly amazing about that is.

However, scientists do believe that quantum spin liquids have useful applications as well. Just explore the world of quantum computing.

The capabilities of quantum computers may considerably surpass those of conventional computers. Quantum computers might be able to perform some computations far faster than current computers and produce better simulations of things like molecules.

However, the components that researchers utilize to construct quantum computers sometimes fall short of expectations. These building components, known as qubits, frequently resemble individual particles or atomic nuclei because they are sensitive to even minute noise or temperature changes. Quantum spin liquids, which store information in their arrangement, might make for less fussy qubits.

According to Semeghini, a completely new type of quantum computer could be created if researchers could show that a quantum spin liquid could be used as a qubit.

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