Two tiny fingers of a strange metal (above, at right) are ready for their close-up, in which a beam of neutrons will probe the behavior of the sample’s electrons. DMYTRO INOSOV /DRESDEN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
A strange fascination – Studies of exotic materials called “strange metals” point to a whole new way to understand electricity
22 May 20252:00 PM ET ByZack Savitsky
A version of this story appeared in Science, Vol 388, Issue 6749. Download PDF
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Something strange is afoot in Silke Bühler Paschen’s lab at the Vienna University of Technology. The walls of the room are plastered in copper foil to keep out electromagnetic waves. A blue refrigerator dangles through a hole in the ceiling, suspended from robotic shock absorbers that precisely counteract the slightest vibrations, including from subway cars passing deep underground. Condensation drips down the fridge into a Minion-themed kiddie pool. Inside, a hair-thin sample of an exotic material is cooled to thousandths of a degree above absolute zero. What happens within this material, and the way it conducts electricity, is one of the biggest mysteries in condensed matter physics.
The electrons begin their journey through Paschen’s lab from an ordinary wall outlet. According to the standard theory of electricity, they migrate individually or in small clusters through the wires leading to the refrigerator. But once the electrons reach the sample—a compound of ytterbium, rhodium, and silicon—this simple picture breaks down. The sample belongs to a class of materials that physicists call “strange metals.” For 4 decades, they’ve puzzled over the fact that in these compounds, the standard theory of electricity just doesn’t work.
Recent experiments in Paschen’s lab and others suggest that in strange metals, electrons lose their individuality. “They magically disappear,” she says. Instead, electric charge appears somehow to pass through the metal as a diffuse amorphous blob—like water without individual H2O molecules. Researchers are still debating the microscopic details of this bizarre picture. But it’s already clear that the stakes are higher than just understanding a dozen or so oddball materials. “It’s really a mysterious state with big consequences,” Paschen says.
