Researchers have discovered that warming a quantum liquid can form supersolid structures, which display both superfluid and strong properties. In 2019, three research study groups were able to demonstrate this state for the very first time beyond doubt in ultracold quantum gases, amongst them the research group led by Francesca Ferlaino from the Department of Experimental Physics at the University of Innsbruck and the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Innsbruck.
They established and published in Nature Communications a theoretical design that can discuss the experimental outcomes and highlights the thesis that heating the quantum liquid can lead to the development of a quantum crystal.
When a quantum liquid is heated up, crystalline structures can appear. Researchers have found that heating up a quantum liquid can form supersolid structures, which exhibit both strong and superfluid homes. The collaborative international team created the first stage diagram revealing the formation of supersolid states as a function of temperature. Credit: Aarhus University
Solids can be melted by heating, but in the quantum world it can likewise be the other way around: In a joint effort, a speculative group led by Francesca Ferlaino in Innsbruck, Austria, and a theoretical group led by Thomas Pohl in Aarhus, Denmark, display in Nature Communications how a quantum liquid types supersolid structures by heating. The scientists acquired a first phase diagram for a supersolid at limited temperature level.
Supersolids are a exciting and reasonably brand-new area of research study. They exhibit both solid and superfluid homes all at once. In 2019, 3 research study groups had the ability to demonstrate this state for the very first time beyond doubt in ultracold quantum gases, amongst them the research group led by Francesca Ferlaino from the Department of Experimental Physics at the University of Innsbruck and the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Innsbruck.
Development of supersolid structures
In 2021, Francesca Ferlainos group studied in detail the life process of supersolid states in a dipolar gas of dysprosium atoms. They observed something unforeseen: “Our data recommended that a boost in temperature promotes the formation of supersolid structures,” states Claudia Politi of Francesca Ferlainos group. “This surprising habits was an essential increase to theory, which had actually previously paid little attention to thermal fluctuations in this context.”
The Innsbruck scientists joined the force with the Danish theoretical group led by Thomas Pohl to check out the result of thermal change. They developed and released in Nature Communications a theoretical design that can discuss the speculative outcomes and underlines the thesis that heating up the quantum liquid can result in the development of a quantum crystal. The theoretical design shows that as the temperature level rises, these structures can form more easily.
” With the brand-new model, we now have a phase diagram for the very first time that reveals the development of a supersolid state as a function of temperature,” Francesca Ferlaino is delighted to state. “The unexpected habits, which contradicts our everyday observation, develops from the anisotropic nature of the dipole-dipole interaction of the strongly magnetic atoms of dysprosium.”
The research study is an essential step towards a much better understanding of supersolid states of matter and was moneyed by the Austrian Science Fund FWF, the European Research Council ERC, and the European Union, amongst others.
Referral: “Heating a dipolar quantum fluid into a solid” by J. Sánchez-Baena, C. Politi, F. Maucher, F. Ferlaino and T. Pohl, 4 April 2023, Nature Communications.DOI: 10.1038/ s41467-023-37207-3.