MIT scientists have found fractionalized excitations in the spin-liquid state of a kagome-lattice an
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SCIENCE MOTHERFUCKER[URL="http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/143782-mit-discovers-a-new-state-of-matter-a-new-kind-of-magnetism"]
http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/143782-mit-discovers-a-new-state-of-matter-a-new-kind-of-magnetism[/URL]
[IMG]http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/quantum-spin-liquid-herbertsmithite-crystal-640x481.jpg[/IMG]
[QUOTE]Researchers at MIT have discovered a new state of matter with a new kind of magnetism. This new state, called a quantum spin liquid (QSL), could lead to significant advances in data storage. QSLs also exhibit a quantum phenomenon called long-range entanglement, which could lead to new types of communications systems, and more.Generally, when we talk about magnetism’s role in the realm of technology, there are just two types: Ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism. Ferromagnetism has been known about for centuries, and is the underlying force behind your compass’s spinning needle or the permanent bar magnets you played with at school. In ferromagnets, the spin (i.e. charge) of every electron is aligned in the same direction, causing two distinct poles. In antiferromagnets, neighboring electrons point in the opposite direction, causing the object to have zero net magnetism (pictured below). In combination with ferromagnets, antiferromagnets are used to create spin valves: the magnetic sensors used in [URL="http://www.extremetech.com/computing/88078-how-a-hard-drive-works"]hard drive heads[/URL].
[URL="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/500px-Antiferromagnetic_ordering.svg_.png"][IMG]http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/500px-Antiferromagnetic_ordering.svg_-300x144.png[/IMG][/URL]In the case of quantum spin liquids, the material is a solid crystal — but the internal magnetic state is constantly in flux. The magnetic orientations of the electrons (their magnetic moment) fluctuate as they interact with other nearby electrons. “But there is a strong interaction between them, and due to quantum effects, they don’t lock in place,” says Young Lee, senior author of [URL="http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2012/mit-researchers-discover-a-new-kind-of-magnetism-1219.html"]the research[/URL]. It is these strong interactions that apparently allow for long-range quantum entanglement.
The existence of QSLs has been theorized since 1987, but until now no one has succeeded in actually finding one. In MIT’s case, the researchers spent 10 months growing a tiny sliver of herbertsmithite (pictured above) — a material that was suspected to be a QSL, but which had never been properly investigated. (Bonus points if you can guess who herbertsmithite is named after.) Using neutron scattering — firing a beam of neutrons at a material to analyze its structure — the researchers found that the herbertsmithite was indeed a QSL.
Moving forward, Lee says that the discovery of QSLs could lead to advances in data storage (new forms of magnetic storage) and communications (long-range entanglement). Lee also seems to think that QSLs could lead us towards higher-temperature superconductors — i.e. materials that superconduct under relatively normal conditions, rather than -200C.
Really, though, the most exciting thing about quantum spin liquids is that they’re completely new, and thus we ultimately have no idea how they might eventually affect our world. “We have to get a more comprehensive understanding of the big picture,” Lee says. “There is no theory that describes everything that we’re seeing.”
Research paper: [URL="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v492/n7429/full/nature11659.html"]doi:10.1038/nature11659[/URL] – “Fractionalized excitations in the spin-liquid state of a kagome-lattice antiferromagnet”[/QUOTE]
I'm just going to smile, nod and pretend I even understood a word of that.
Does someone here understand science and help translate it for us?
[QUOTE=Tarver;38908681]Does someone here understand science and help translate it for us?[/QUOTE]
Magnets are miracles.
[QUOTE=Tarver;38908681]Does someone here understand science and help translate it for us?[/QUOTE]
"We tried something, it worked, it's cool as fuck."
fuck I thought they'd found monopoles or something
So it could be used for better data storage? Useful.
[QUOTE=Zephyrs;38908691]Magnets are miracles.[/QUOTE]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwVDDxoKBk4[/media]
could lead to quantum entanglement communication... we all know what this means
[QUOTE=Tarver;38908681]Does someone here understand science and help translate it for us?[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=yawmwen;38908653][media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfYBsuBzulE[/media][/QUOTE]
[quote]Researchers at MIT have discovered a new state of matter with a new kind of magnetism. This new state, called a quantum spin liquid (QSL), could lead to significant advances in data storage. QSLs also exhibit a quantum phenomenon called long-range entanglement, which could lead to new types of communications systems, and more.[/quote]
First three sentences of the fucking article goddamn.
dat headline :dance:
From my understanding it's a type of magnet material with chaotic electrons.
Maybe it could be applied to memory storage by storing a bit of data on a single electron?
I honestly thought this was going to be some sort of sensationalist headline with made up terms, but no. Amazing even if I am clueless!
I understand the article, but I don't understand it enough to explain it in an overly simplified manner. Sorry, FP.
[QUOTE=ReligiousNutjob;38908619]I'm just going to smile, nod and pretend I even understood a word of that.[/QUOTE]
They discovered a new state of matter and a new type of magnetism.
This is pretty interesting..
A crystal structure, where it's constituent electrons are constantly changing.
Nature is one crazy bitch!
[QUOTE=trotskygrad;38908942]could lead to quantum entanglement communication... we all know what this means[/QUOTE]
combined with how we can now entangle 3 atoms, which means its far more likely to be able to entangle more, quantum routers just became much more feasable
[QUOTE]MIT scientists have found fractionalized excitations in the spin-liquid state of a kagome-lattice antiferromagnet[/QUOTE]
I'm not following..
Ferromagnets, how do they work?
[QUOTE=DainBramageStudios;38908705]fuck I thought they'd found monopoles or something[/QUOTE]
I've only taken intro physics, but wouldn't this not be physically possible? Sounds like it'd break Ampere's law or something.
It's reasonably simple to explain for a layman's purposes, but not quite so easy to explain fully unless your audience has an understanding of basic quantum chemistry - the quality of spin and the idea behind how magnetism works. I haven't read in depth on the entanglement part of this discovery yet so I'll avoid discussing that. In short (overly simplified), it's a solid which has magnetic properties in line with what might be expected from a liquid in terms of disorder (hence the name). Normally the electrons in a structure have some measure of order, and line up canceling each other out or line up in the same direction (as in a ferromagnet). Instead of lining up, the electrons seem to be "spinning" about and will even do so at unfathomably cold temperatures. This is a crazy discovery, and is absolutely amazing. The applications might go above my head for now, but it's easy to see it'll be really useful to know about.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ws6AAhTw7RA[/media]
It means, if their thesis is correct they can create levitation without the superconductor being frozen far below normal temperatures ( pictured above ). Very cool, might actually get those pink Mattel hover-boards soon :downs:.
-snip img reply
I KNEW IT
In normal magents, the 'flow' of magnetism is static - it only points north or south, and the imbalance (what could be called a magnetic vacuum, perhaps) is what causes the attraction. In antiferromagnets there is no directional flow but a constant flux - think raindrop ripples on a puddle, as oppose to the flow of a stream (i think). Remember this is all 3-dimensional in nature as well.
And i think entanglement or a portion of it, string theory, was proven a while back, and is essentially the ability for 2 particles to instantaneously mimic one another across a distance without any detectable trace of emission.
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