Saturday 01 March 2025
Scientists have made a significant breakthrough in understanding the behavior of supersolids, exotic states of matter that can flow like liquids while also maintaining their internal structure and order.
For decades, researchers have been fascinated by the prospect of creating supersolids, which are thought to be a key feature of high-temperature superconductors. These materials have the potential to revolutionize energy transmission and storage by allowing electricity to flow with perfect efficiency.
The problem is that creating supersolids has proven to be extremely challenging. In order to form a supersolid, you need to have two separate types of order present in the material: one related to the density of particles, known as a charge-density wave (CDW), and another related to the motion of those particles, known as a superconducting condensate.
In most materials, these two orders are mutually exclusive – either the CDW or the superconducting condensate dominates, but not both. However, some theoretical models suggest that under certain conditions, it may be possible to create a supersolid by carefully tuning the properties of the material.
Researchers have been studying Luther-Emery liquids, a type of one-dimensional system that is thought to exhibit the behavior necessary for forming supersolids. These systems consist of chains of interacting particles that can be manipulated to create a CDW or superconducting condensate.
Using advanced computational models and simulations, scientists have now successfully demonstrated the formation of a supersolid in these Luther-Emery liquids. The results show that by carefully adjusting the strength of the interactions between the particles, it is possible to induce both the CDW and superconducting condensate orders simultaneously.
This breakthrough has significant implications for our understanding of the behavior of exotic states of matter and could potentially lead to new ways of creating high-temperature superconductors. It also highlights the importance of theoretical modeling in advancing our knowledge of complex systems.
One of the key challenges facing researchers is the difficulty of experimentally verifying the existence of supersolids. The properties of these materials are often difficult to measure directly, and it may require the development of new experimental techniques to confirm their existence.
Despite this challenge, the discovery of supersolids in Luther-Emery liquids opens up new avenues for research into exotic states of matter. It also highlights the potential for theoretical modeling to drive advances in our understanding of complex systems and potentially lead to breakthroughs in fields such as energy transmission and storage.
Cite this article: “Scientists Achieve Breakthrough in Understanding Supersolid Behavior”, The Science Archive, 2025.
Supersolids, Exotic States Of Matter, High-Temperature Superconductors, Charge-Density Wave, Superconducting Condensate, Luther-Emery Liquids, Computational Models, Simulations, One-Dimensional Systems, Complex Systems
Reference: Ying-Ming Xie, Naoto Nagaosa, “Quasi-one-dimensional Supersolids in Luther-Emery Liquids” (2025).
