A team of Brown physicists published the discovery of a new physical phase related to superconductivity two weeks ago in the scientific journal Physical Review Letters.
The team's research, conducted by Georgios Koutroulakis GS and Assistant Professor of Physics Vesna Mitrovic, lies in the realm of quantum mechanics, a field of physics, which describes the behavior of energy and matter at the subatomic scale. Specifically, the research group studies the relationship between superconductivity — a super-cooled state in which electrical resistance drops to zero — and magnetism.
"We saw a phase where superconductivity and magnetism have a very strange relationship," Koutroulakis said. "Ten years ago, we thought that if we have magnetism, we would kill superconductivity."
As a part of "unconventional" superconductivity, the team's research will help to create a new perspective in the field of quantum mechanics, Koutroulakis said, adding that Brown Professor of Physics Leon Cooper won a Nobel Prize in 1972 for his work on earlier superconductivity research.
The discovery was partly a stroke of luck for the researchers, Mitrovic said, adding that they did not expect to make this kind of discovery. The team was spurred on by a related discovery made earlier this year, she said.
"It's not like we were even looking for this," Mitrovic said. "It was only this summer that some theory suggested this would exist."
Though advances in the field of quantum mechanics are primarily theoretical, superconductivity theory is already starting to be put into practice, she said. For example, superconductivity properties are already used in the magnets in magnetic resonance imaging as well as in power storage banks in Chicago's electrical grid, Mitrovic said.
"It's exciting to try to find new things and be lucky," Koutroulakis said. "That's one of the nice things about fundamental research — you see things that nobody has seen before."
