Scientists Create Odd “Domain Walls” in Laboratory

Controlled for the very first time, the quantum phenomenon might propose opportunities for technology.

University of Chicago researchers have actually been able to generate a new type of quantum object at will in the laboratory: “domain walls.”

The discovery can help researchers better comprehend exotic quantum particles and suggest avenues for new technology in the future, like quantum electronics or quantum memory.

The research study was conducted in Prof. Cheng Chin’s lab, which studies novel quantum systems and the underlying physics. The study was published in the journal Nature on February 2, 2022. In one of their experiments, the UChicago researchers observed a fascinating atom incident at incredibly low temperatures. Under the right conditions, teams of atoms can isolate into domains, and a “wall” forms at the junction where they are connected. This domain wall behaved like an independent quantum object.

“It is sort of like a dune in the desert– it is made of sand, but the dune acts like an object that behaves in different ways from individual grains of sand,” stated Ph.D. student Kai-Xuan Yao, the first author of the study.

Researchers had glimpsed these domain walls in quantum materials; however, previously, they could not reliably produce and assess them. As soon as the UChicago physicists developed the recipe to make and closely study the walls, they observed unusual behaviors.

Scientists are partially interested in cataloging these behaviors since they can turn into the basis of future technology.

” We have a great deal of experience in controlling atoms,” stated Chin, who is appointed in the Department of Physics, the James Franck Institute, and the Enrico Fermi Institute. “We understand if you push atoms to the right, they will move right. However, here, if you push the domain wall to the right, it moves left.”

Quantum domain walls

These domain walls are part of a class called “emergent” phenomena, which indicates that they appear to comply with brand-new laws of physics due to many particles acting together as a collective.

Chin’s laboratory studies these emergent phenomena, thinking they can shed light on a set of laws called dynamical gauge theory, which defines other emerging phenomena in materials alongside in the early universe; the very same phenomena likely held together the first particles as they clumped together to create galaxies, stars, and planets.

Discoveries in this field can also make it possible for brand-new quantum technology. Researchers are interested in cataloging these behaviors in part since they can transform into the basis of future technology– for instance, the basis of modern GPS comes from scientists in the 1950s attempting to test Einstein’s theory of relativity.

” There might be applications for this phenomenon in regards to making programmable quantum material or quantum information processor– it can be used to produce an extra robust way to save quantum information or allow new functionalities in materials,” stated Chin. “But before we can discover that out, the first step is to comprehend how to control them.”

Read the original article on Scitech Daily.

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