Scientists have found a new “strange metal” that behaves in ways they can’t quite understand.
But the discovery could be key to finding out an explanation for a phenomenon that has troubled researchers for decades.
Finally solving that problem could lead to a variety of breakthroughs, such as lossless power grids and quantum computers. It also appears to be linked to some of the fundamental constants of the universe, and so could help shed light on how the cosmos actually works.
Most materials, such as copper and silver, behave in predictable and well understood ways, and scientists understand how their electrical conductance changes when they are heated or cooled.
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But recently scientists have been focused on another class of materials, known as strange metals. They do not seem to behave according to the usual electrical rules. Scientists are doubly intrigued because they are thought to offer hints of the quantum world, as well as a way of understanding other phenomena that is yet to be fully explained.
Now scientists have found another strange metal behaviour and another mystery to be solved. In the material, electrical charge is not carried by electrons, as usual, but by so-called Cooper pairs that are more like waves.
Read more: The Independent
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