A new study reveals how scientists recently made history by turning light into a supersolid, marking a major breakthrough in physics.
The abstract for the recent study explained that a supersolid is “a counter-intuitive phase of matter in which its constituent particles are arranged into a crystalline structure, yet they are free to flow without friction.” The abstract added, “This requires the particles to share a global macroscopic phase while being able to reduce their total energy by spontaneous, spatial self-organization.”
Dimitris Trypogeorgos, a physicist at the National Research Council in Italy, told New Scientist, “We actually made light into a solid. That’s pretty awesome.”
According to New Scientist, while researchers have used cold atoms to create supersolids in previous experiments, Trypogeorgos and his fellow researchers used aluminum gallium arsenide, a semiconductor, and a laser to create the supersolid.
The scientists involved in the recent supersolid experiment used a laser to fire at a specially shaped piece of gallium arsenide, according to Phys.org. The outlet noted that as the light hit the ridges of the gallium arsenide, the interactions between the laser and the gallium arsenide formed polaritons, which are hybrid particles. As a result of the specially shaped gallium arsenide, the polaritons ultimately formed into a supersolid.
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ZME Science reported that in order to confirm that the light had been made into a supersolid, the scientists had to measure the density of the polaritons. By observing the polaritons, the scientists were able to determine that the polaritons showed a “distinct modulation,” similar to crystallizing, while also displaying signs of coherence.
“We measure the density modulation of the polaritonic state indicating the breaking of translational symmetry with a precision of several parts in a thousand,” scientists said in the abstract for the study. “Direct access to the phase of the wavefunction allows us to also measure the local coherence of the supersolid.”
According to The Daily Wire, supersolids can be used as coolants for quantum devices, used in high-capacity batteries, used as lubricants in precision engineering, and used to stabilize qubits, which are featured in quantum computing.
Reflecting on the historical nature of the recent experiment, Trypogeorgos said, “This is really at the beginning of something new.”
Source: American Military News