Adapted from original reporting by Kitta MacPherson, Rutgers University based on research published in Science Advances
A team of researchers at Rutgers has uncovered something that does not fit into our current categories of matter. It is not a solid. It is not a liquid. It is not a gas or plasma. It is something else entirely and it only shows up under extreme conditions when two highly unusual materials are combined and exposed to intense magnetic fields.
This new state appears at the interface of a Weyl semimetal and a type of magnetic insulator known as spin ice. On their own, both of these materials are known for their strange behavior. But when pressed together and subjected to massive magnetic forces, something unknown emerges. Electrons begin to behave in ways never seen before. The rules change.
In this state, electric conductivity becomes directional. That means electrons will flow more easily in some directions than others. The material resists symmetry and the usual expectations of physical behavior break down. The researchers observed that as the magnetic field increased, electrons suddenly reversed course and flowed in two opposite directions at once. This is known as rotational symmetry breaking and it points to a completely new phase of matter.
This finding suggests that matter is capable of far more than we thought. That it can shift into unfamiliar configurations that only emerge under very specific interactions. This one only appeared at the precise point where a conductor met a magnetic system under extreme cold and intense fields. It does not exist in either material alone.
There is a growing trend in modern physics. States of matter that seem impossible under normal lab conditions begin to emerge when researchers create layered materials only a few atoms thick and push them to physical limits. These artificial structures are starting to reveal hidden behaviors that suggest our picture of matter is incomplete.
The team believes this new state could lead to advances in quantum sensing and other technologies. But the deeper implication is that the matter we interact with every day might be just one version of what is possible.
The full study was led by physicist Tsung Chi Wu and supported by an experiment theory collaboration at Rutgers. Much of the data was gathered at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Florida. The theoretical work was guided by Jedediah Pixley and Yueqing Chang. The research builds on earlier efforts to develop custom layered quantum structures using a platform the team developed themselves.
The results were published in Science Advances under the title Electronic anisotropy and rotational symmetry breaking at a Weyl semimetal spin ice interface. Read the original paper HERE.