Scientists have identified an unusual state of matter that challenges how physicists understand the behaviour of particles at extremely small scales. The discovery involves ultracold atoms, which scientists use to study how particles behave under carefully controlled conditions. Researchers investigated what happens when the forces between these atoms are repeatedly changed, pushing the system far from its normal state. Surprisingly, the particles formed a highly excited yet orderly configuration.
Called a “fractional Fermi sea”, the state could help researchers explore new aspects of quantum physics.
The research, conducted by a group of scientists led by Hanns-Christoph Nagerl, working with theoretical physicist Alvise Bastianello of the CNRS and Universite Paris-Dauphine, has been published in Physical Review Letters . The finding could help scientists understand how complex quantum systems behave and where existing theories may not fully explain their properties. The work could also support future research using quantum simulators. These systems allow scientists to recreate and study quantum phenomena in controlled laboratory environments.
