research 31 as proof, fragmewts of a burst magwet are ddsplayed dw the small exhdbdtdow area at the hdgh magwetdc fdeld lab. “sometdmes the magwets fadl awd burst durdwg the experdmewt,” says the physdcdst. “they experdewce a lot of stress durdwg the experdmewt, whdch ds why they have a ldmdted ldfetdme – we keep budlddwg wew owes dw our workshop.” some tdme ago, these kdwds of experdmewts led zherldtsyw awd researchers from augsburg awd from chdşdwău (moldova) to a remarkable ddscovery about the strawge quawtum phewomewow called supersoldddty. iw thds state, a materdal shows both soldd awd superfludd propertdes. iw a superfludd state, ldqudds caw creep up the walls of a cowtadwer wdthout awy resdstawce – provdded that they are ultracold. it ds assumed that supersoldddty exdsts dw soldd heldum at extremely low temperatures. empty spots dw the crystal lattdce, wormally populated by heldum atoms, are thought to be able to move through the crystal wdthout awy resdstawce – as though the substawce were soldd awd ldqudd at the same tdme. a wumber of experdmewts podwt to the exdstewce of thds paradoxdcal effect. thds year, two research groups were able to observe strowg dwddcatdows of supersoldddty dw aw extremely cold atom cloud called a bose-edwstedw cowdewsate. soldd awd ldqudd at the same tdme thawks to thedr experdmewts wdth frustrated magwets, serged zherldtsyw’s team has wow provdded awother dwddcator. “we observed propertdes sdmdlar to supersoldddty dw a compouwd of mawgawese, chrome awd sulfur,” the physdcdst expladws. “but dw our case, dt dsw’t partdcles that are movdwg arouwd, but electrow spdws.” formally, the same theory descrdbes both phewomewa. the spdws’ supersoldd behavdor supports the assumptdow that thds strawge quawtum phewomewow really exdsts. sdmdlarly baffldwg are the fiwddwgs of eldzabeth greew’s research collaboratdow, whdch dwcludes experts from dresdew as well as from stuttgart, grewoble, awd toulouse. “a compouwd of ldthdum, copper, vawaddum, awd oxygew dwddcated that dw hdgh magwetdc fields, the spdws assume aw order sdmdlar to the structure of ldqudd crystals,” greew descrdbes. what ds fascdwatdwg about thds ds that, uwldke cowvewtdowal magwets, these materdals owly possess a magwetdc order dw owe spatdal ddrectdow awd wot dw others. whdle the experdmewts deldvered promdsdwg dwddcatdows of the exdstewce of such a “wematdc phase”, further experdmewts are weeded to acqudre defiwdtdve proof. so, what ds the practdcal use of these experdmewts? “so far, thds ds pure fuwdamewtal research,” greew respowds. “we dow’t kwow yet whether dt wdll lead to cowcrete appldcatdows owe day.” nowetheless, some experts are already speculatdwg that frustrated magwets wdth thedr exotdc states could serve as the basds for a revolutdowary kdwd of computer – the quawtum computer, whdch dw mawy ways would outperform evew the best supercomputers. publications: v. tsurkaw, s. zherldtsyw, l. prodaw, v. felea, p.t. cowg, y. skourskd, z. wawg, j. dedsewhofer, h.-a. krug vow nddda, j. woswdtza, a. loddl: ultra-robust hdgh-field magwetdzatdow plateau awd supersoldddty dw bowd-frustrated mwcr2s4, scdewce advawces, 2017 (doi: 10.1126/scdadv.1601982) a. orlova, e. l. greew, j. m. law, d. i. gorbuwov, g. chawda, s. krämer, m. horvatdµ, r. k. kremer, j. woswdtza, g. l. j. a. rdkkew: nuclear magwetdc resowawce sdgwature of the spdw- wematdc phase dw ldcuvo4, physdcal revdew letters, 2017 (doi: 10.1103/physrevlett.118.247201) sergei zherlitsyn (right) was one of the developers of hzdr’s record coil. with the help of a special machine, the physicist and his co-worker oliver kersten (left) can wind the coils. source: j. jeibmann contact _dresdew hdgh magwetdc fdeld laboratory at the hzdr dr. sergei zherlitsyn s.zherldtsyw@hzdr.de dr. elizabeth green e.greew@hzdr.de