How Matter Can Melt at Absolute Zero

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
New tools are revealing the crowd behavior of electrons at close to absolute zero, where freezing and melting are governed by quantum mechanics. With sophisticated tools for building semiconductors and improvements in low-temperature analysis, physicists have been able to watch the melting of an electron crystal and the unusual flip-flops of two-dimensional "gases" of electrons. The work may have some practical implications: By searching for hints of quantum phase transitions in high-temperature superconductors, researchers are hoping to spring the lock on the stubborn mystery of how these materials work.

This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit: