• Breadcrumb MIT News Anything-goes “anyons” may be at the root of surprising quantum experiments Anything-goes “anyons” may be at the root of surprising quantum experiments Press Contact: Previous imageNext image In the past year, two separate experiments in two different materials captured the same confounding scenario: the coexistence of superconductivity and magnetism. • Scientists had assumed that these two quantum states are mutually exclusive; the presence of one should inherently destroy the other. • Now, theoretical physicists at MIT have an explanation for how this Jekyll-and-Hyde duality could emerge. • In apaper appearing today in theProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team proposes that under certain conditions, a magnetic material’s electrons could splinter into fractions of themselves to form quasiparticles known as “anyons.” In certain fractions, the quasiparticles should flow together without friction, similar to how regular electrons can pair up to flow in conventional superconductors. • If the team’s scenario is correct, it would introduce an entirely new form of superconductivity - one that persists in the presence of magnetism and involves a supercurrent of exotic anyons rather than everyday electrons. • “Many more experiments are needed before one can declare victory,” says study lead author Senthil Todadri, the William and Emma Rogers Professor of Physics at MIT.

Article Summaries:

  • MIT physicists propose that the unexpected coexistence of superconductivity and magnetism observed in two recent experiments can be explained by the emergence of “anyons,” exotic quasiparticles that split electrons into fractional parts. In certain conditions, these anyons can pair and flow without resistance, forming a new type of superconductivity that survives in a magnetic environment. The theory, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests that such anyonic superconductors could be engineered in other materials and may enable more robust quantum‑computing qubits. Further experiments are needed to confirm and control this phenomenon.

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