A Supersolid Made Using Photons(photonicsonline.com)
photonicsonline.com
A Supersolid Made Using Photons
https://www.photonicsonline.com/doc/a-super-solid-made-using-pho-tons-0001
34 comments
The problem is that the usual definition of "solid" requires a classical understanding of what it means for "a thing to be in a place". With quantum mechanics, places get blurred, so you can have things remain in a rigid structure and flow, simultaneously.
So you read it correctly: scientists made a fancy electric field with a laser.
So you read it correctly: scientists made a fancy electric field with a laser.
I think this may be a typo: (r/or/of/ hn?)
"At the mean field level, supersolidity can be interpreted as two-mode condensation; after condensation in the first, a second mode become senergetically available by tuning of interactions or an external electromagnetic field and can then be dynamically populated."
"At the mean field level, supersolidity can be interpreted as two-mode condensation; after condensation in the first, a second mode become senergetically available by tuning of interactions or an external electromagnetic field and can then be dynamically populated."
This is really at the boundaries of my comprehension of physics but it’s a remarkable achievement of Italy, Europe and international Academic institutions at large - we need them all!!!
You can't read this without thinking it's science fiction. It's amazing that we've achieved this much, even if it's at such microscopic scale.
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> the first experimental evidence of a supersolid phase in a driven-dissipative, non-equilibrium system using exciton-polaritons in a photonic crystal waveguide.
This is just messing with us right? Star trek level technobabble?
Just kidding, seems an exciting result, even if it flies way over my head.
This is just messing with us right? Star trek level technobabble?
Just kidding, seems an exciting result, even if it flies way over my head.
If it can help:
- Supersolid: it's a state of matter when a system is both organised like a solid but presents superfluid-like flow without viscosity.
- Driven-dissipative: it's a qualifier for systems which are dissipative (excitations of the systems dissipate energy as heat) and driven by external fields (in this case strong electromagnetic fields are keeping the supersolid in shape). In physics, "driven" usually refers to an external influx of energy or force kept on the system.
- non-equilibrium system is what we call systems where the physics cannot be fully described by a statistical analysis of the whole over long times. These systems have transitory behaviours which are often complex before they return to equilibrium (unless they are driven away from it).
Exciton-polariton: excitons and polaritons are what we call quasiparticles. They're not particles in the sense of an electron or photon, but instead they are excitations of the collective system which look like particles. Kind of like how waves on the ocean aren't one water molecule, but a bunch of them. An exciton has no charge (it's essentially an electron and a missing electron stuck together). When an exciton couples to electromagnetic waves (photons), it can make a special type of polariton (another quasiparticle) which we call an exciton-polariton.
- Photonic = made of photons
- Supersolid: it's a state of matter when a system is both organised like a solid but presents superfluid-like flow without viscosity.
- Driven-dissipative: it's a qualifier for systems which are dissipative (excitations of the systems dissipate energy as heat) and driven by external fields (in this case strong electromagnetic fields are keeping the supersolid in shape). In physics, "driven" usually refers to an external influx of energy or force kept on the system.
- non-equilibrium system is what we call systems where the physics cannot be fully described by a statistical analysis of the whole over long times. These systems have transitory behaviours which are often complex before they return to equilibrium (unless they are driven away from it).
Exciton-polariton: excitons and polaritons are what we call quasiparticles. They're not particles in the sense of an electron or photon, but instead they are excitations of the collective system which look like particles. Kind of like how waves on the ocean aren't one water molecule, but a bunch of them. An exciton has no charge (it's essentially an electron and a missing electron stuck together). When an exciton couples to electromagnetic waves (photons), it can make a special type of polariton (another quasiparticle) which we call an exciton-polariton.
- Photonic = made of photons
Thanks, appreciated
> a system is both organised like a solid but presents superfluid-like flow without viscosity
This is hard for me to grasp. For example, if it bumps hard into a hard solid surface, does it shear like, say, bent metal? Or is it itself 'hard' / rigid - if that is a reasonable descriptor for something at such small scales - itself, and - despite being able to flow, with no friction, smoothly - still remain 'locked in shape' at a structural level? My real question I guess is how does a collision work here?
This is hard for me to grasp. For example, if it bumps hard into a hard solid surface, does it shear like, say, bent metal? Or is it itself 'hard' / rigid - if that is a reasonable descriptor for something at such small scales - itself, and - despite being able to flow, with no friction, smoothly - still remain 'locked in shape' at a structural level? My real question I guess is how does a collision work here?
Or does it go through the hard solid surface and emerge unscathed on the other side? Probably not or it will fall towards the center of Earth and bounce back and forth, at least until it loses its supersolidity, which I bet will happen pretty quickly.
Is Exciton-polariton what photosynthesis captures?
Can we have lightsabers now?
So, about the excitons - this is a bit like, with semiconductors, people talk about the "holes" as though they were particles moving and interacting:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electron_hole
but it's more like a way of describing a system.
Which also means that nobody is making a solid object from photons, it's all "behaves like a solid would if you look at our system a certain way". Right?
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Also - I don't see how the phrases "behaves like a solid" and "presents flow" can agree. Isn't the whole point of a solid that it _doesn't_ flow?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electron_hole
but it's more like a way of describing a system.
Which also means that nobody is making a solid object from photons, it's all "behaves like a solid would if you look at our system a certain way". Right?
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Also - I don't see how the phrases "behaves like a solid" and "presents flow" can agree. Isn't the whole point of a solid that it _doesn't_ flow?
So there are two aspects to reconcile the solid and fluid parts together.
First, just like a superfluid, a supersolid can have a portion that flows and one that doesn't (the normal fraction).
The second part is that, as you rightfully mentioned, holes are just vacancies in the structure. Here the vacancies in the crystalline structure they made are able to flow along the solid. But as they flow, the structure retains its shape. And at low enough temperature, these excitations condense into a macroscopic quantum state which makes them a superfluid.
So in a nutshell, you have an organised structure like a solide, but a portion of that structure flows without breaking the overall structure.
First, just like a superfluid, a supersolid can have a portion that flows and one that doesn't (the normal fraction).
The second part is that, as you rightfully mentioned, holes are just vacancies in the structure. Here the vacancies in the crystalline structure they made are able to flow along the solid. But as they flow, the structure retains its shape. And at low enough temperature, these excitations condense into a macroscopic quantum state which makes them a superfluid.
So in a nutshell, you have an organised structure like a solide, but a portion of that structure flows without breaking the overall structure.
Not a single quantum in there. Could be even more advanced!
Photons, held by force-fields? Sounds Trekky.
Although currently still in the experimental verification stage, the use of photons to create and control supersolids has great potential for exploring breakthrough levels of quantum physics phenomena and new materials science.
is this practical or some nano thing they kept floating on a ultra strong magnetic field for a brief instant? i can't parse the terms.
> The researchers created the supersolid state by condensing polaritons in a bound-in-the-continuum state within a photonic crystal waveguide. The researchers were able to achieve remarkable precision in the measurement of density modulations, hallmark of translational symmetry breaking. At the same time, they probed the local coherence of the supersolid wavefunction.
Ah yes, classic move. Clearly, by aligning the polaritons within the photonic crystal’s inverse reactive current, they’ve essentially reinvented the Retro Encabulator. It’s good to see someone finally tackling the long-standing issue of modial photon-density modulation. But I have to wonder—did they adequately compensate for sinusoidal repleneration in the supersolid wavefunction, or are we looking at another premature quantum flux leakage scenario? Call me when they’ve integrated ambifacient lunar waneshafts and a turbo-encabulated photon lattice. Until then, color me photonically unimpressed.
Ah yes, classic move. Clearly, by aligning the polaritons within the photonic crystal’s inverse reactive current, they’ve essentially reinvented the Retro Encabulator. It’s good to see someone finally tackling the long-standing issue of modial photon-density modulation. But I have to wonder—did they adequately compensate for sinusoidal repleneration in the supersolid wavefunction, or are we looking at another premature quantum flux leakage scenario? Call me when they’ve integrated ambifacient lunar waneshafts and a turbo-encabulated photon lattice. Until then, color me photonically unimpressed.
For anyone wondering what this comment is talking about:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXJKdh1KZ0w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXJKdh1KZ0w
I was going to say something about modulating the wavelength, but OP wins.
(dingle-arm, he actually said dingle-arm!)
(dingle-arm, he actually said dingle-arm!)
OMG, they created another:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nKk_-Lvhzo
(and he said transmogrified!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nKk_-Lvhzo
(and he said transmogrified!)
No one ever remembers to adequately compensate for sinusoidal repleneration in the wavefunction.
Great
NewScientist summary, https://archive.is/b9qKH
An odd solid that can flow like a fluid has been created from light for the first time. Studying it will help researchers better understand exotic quantum states of matter. “We actually made light into a solid." ... light-based supersolids may be easier to manipulate than those previously created with atoms, which could make his team’s experiment a first step towards understanding a slew of novel and surprising types of matter.
Italy: CNR National Institute of Optics, University of Pavia
USA: Princeton University, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Austria: University of Innsbruck
A few months ago from U of Innsbruck, "Physicists Stir a Supersolid For First Time, Proving Its Bizarre Dual Nature", https://www.sciencealert.com/physicists-stir-a-supersolid-fo...
> Under these extreme conditions, matter starts behaving very differently from what we are used to.. More than half a century ago, physicists predicted the existence of a "supersolid" state. It is matter that has the properties of both a solid and a superfluid, in which a fraction of the atoms flow friction-free through the lattice – a regular arrangement of points or objects – of a rigid crystal structure.. A series of tiny whirlpools, or quantised vortices, begin to appear.. These are like small holes in the fluid, each rotating at a specific speed.. they arrange themselves in beautiful, regular patterns across the surface of the superfluid, almost like the holes in a piece of Gruyere cheese, but perfectly organized.
> Under these extreme conditions, matter starts behaving very differently from what we are used to.. More than half a century ago, physicists predicted the existence of a "supersolid" state. It is matter that has the properties of both a solid and a superfluid, in which a fraction of the atoms flow friction-free through the lattice – a regular arrangement of points or objects – of a rigid crystal structure.. A series of tiny whirlpools, or quantised vortices, begin to appear.. These are like small holes in the fluid, each rotating at a specific speed.. they arrange themselves in beautiful, regular patterns across the surface of the superfluid, almost like the holes in a piece of Gruyere cheese, but perfectly organized.
HN ranking history for this thread: https://hnrankings.info/43329427/
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I can't believe anyone can fall for this. It's so obviously a modern take on that Rockwell Retro Encabulator joke.
Those lefties playing sorcerer's apprentice at CERN are going to end up swallowing the world, I'm telling you !
I guess "solid" has a technical definition that allows for this sort of interesting interpretation.