Physicists have discovered a new phase of matter, dubbed “half ice, half fire,” that could open the door to new advancements in fields such as quantum computing.
The new phase combines a number of “up” spins of electrons within an atom, which are highly ordered and referred to as cold cycles, with a number of “down” spins, which are highly disordered and referred to as hot cycles — lending the phase its nickname, “half ice, half fire.”
“Half ice, half fire” is a significant discovery not only because of its novelty but also because it can produce sharp switching between phases at reasonable temperatures. It’s the twin of the “half fire, half ice” state first observed by the same team at Brookhaven National Laboratory — physicists Weiguo Yin and Alexei Tsvelik, alongside their then intern, Christopher Roth — back in 2016.
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