A group of researchers from the United States and China has discovered a strange metal in a material where electric charge is transmitted not by electrons, but by wave-like entities known as Cooper pairs.
In nature, there are two types of fundamental particles: bosons and fermions. It can be understood that Cooper pairs fall into the boson category, while electrons belong to the fermion category.
“Strange metal” refers to a type of material associated with high-temperature superconductors, sharing fundamental quantum properties with black holes. These materials appear to defy traditional electrical rules.
These materials seem to defy traditional electrical rules.
This has attracted the attention of scientists in recent years because they may provide fundamental insights into the quantum world and potentially help understand strange phenomena such as high-temperature superconductivity.
The recent discovery related to strange metals was published in the journal Nature on Wednesday (January 12) under the title “Signs of a strange metal in a bosonic system.”
Unprecedented movement of strange metals
Jim Valles, a physics professor at Brown University in the United States and an author of the new study, explained that the strange movement of metals was first discovered 30 years ago in a material known as a cup. Scientists have also been uncertain about the workings of these “strange metals” due to a lack of evidence supporting theoretical operational rules.
These strange materials appear to lack the characteristics typical of other metals when heated to high temperatures. Normally, the strength of metals increases and reaches a constant threshold. However, this “strange metal” does not follow that rule, and scientists are trying to uncover the reasons behind it.
To better understand the “strange metal,” scientists have employed various methods for observation, but the results have not revealed much.
Previously, in 2019, Valles and his colleagues indicated that Cooper pair bosons could exhibit metallic behavior, meaning they can conduct electricity with a certain amount of resistance. This finding was remarkable because quantum theory elements suggested that this phenomenon should not occur. In this latest study, the research team aimed to determine whether metals combining bosonic Cooper pairs could be classified as strange metals.
The researchers stated that this discovery would provide theorists with something new to consider as they strive to understand the strange behavior of metals.
Valles shared: “It is a challenge for theorists to provide explanations for what we observe in strange metals.”
In Valles’ view, the strange metallic behavior may hold the key to understanding high-temperature superconductivity, which has enormous potential for applications such as lossless power grids and quantum computers, which is why scientists are racing to explore and understand it.
