The world of quantum physics is full of surprises - from particles that appear to move faster than light to mysterious ‘topological’ phases of matter that seem to defy the laws of our everyday reality. Now, researchers have combined two of these phenomena to create a new state of matter that is both ferromagnetic and topological.

The study, conducted by an international team of researchers from the University of Amsterdam, the University of California, Berkeley and the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, has been published in Nature.

The researchers created a state of matter that is both ferromagnetic and topological. This new state of matter could lead to groundbreaking discoveries in quantum computing, spintronics and data storage. The combination of ferromagnetism and topology could also open up new possibilities for understanding and controlling the behavior of quantum particles.

To create this new state of matter, the team used a combination of laser beams and ultracold atoms. By carefully controlling the laser beams, the team was able to create a lattice of light that trapped the atoms. By manipulating the atoms, the researchers were able to induce a quantum phase transition and create a ferromagnetic topological state.

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source: Phys.org