Exotic Liquid-Like Flow of Electricity Detected in Strange Metals
A new discovery in strange metals has found that electricity doesn't always move in step and can bleed in a way that challenges our understanding of particles.
Unconventional Electrical Currents in Strange Metals
Strange metals, a class of materials known for their unusual resistance to currents at warm temperatures, have been the subject of a new study. These materials increase in resistance as they heat up, but in a distinct manner, unlike normal metals. While resistance in normal metals plateaus at high temperatures, strange metals continue to increase in resistance by a set amount for every degree of temperature rise. This behavior suggests that electrical currents in strange metals do not operate in the same way as in conventional metals.
Quasiparticles and Shot Noise
To investigate the nature of electrical currents in strange metals, researchers conducted experiments using a phenomenon called shot noise. Shot noise is caused by the granular nature of charges as they flow through a conductor and can provide insights into the behavior of particles. The researchers found that the shot noise in their sample of YbRh2Si2, a strange metal, was highly suppressed in a way that couldn't be explained by typical electron interactions. This suggests that the behavior of electrical charge in strange metals does not involve quasiparticles.
A Liquid-Like Current
The findings of the study support a model proposed by a condensed matter physicist over 20 years ago, which describes the behavior of electrons in materials approaching extremely low temperatures. According to this model, electrons in certain locations lose the characteristics necessary to form quasiparticles. Instead, the charge in strange metals flows in a more liquid-like manner, challenging the conventional understanding of electrical currents. However, the exact nature of this liquid current and its existence in other strange metals is still uncertain.
