Here\u2019s what you\u2019ll learn when reading this story:<\/p>\n
In three-dimensional particle physics, elementary particles divide nicely into fermions and bosons. But in lower-dimensions, things aren\u2019t so clear cut.<\/p>\n
These dimensions host a \u201cthird kingdom\u201d of quasiparticles known as anyons, which have properties that sit between the quantum description of fermions and boson.<\/p>\n
In 2020, scientists found the experimental existence of an anyon in two-dimensional space, and in two new studies, scientists describe the existence of tunable anyons in one-dimensional space (and describe their properties).<\/p>\n
When you drill down into the very fabric of reality\u2014where elementary particles make up the matter that is you and me and everything around us in three-dimensional space\u2014things get divided nicely into two categories: fermions and bosons<\/a>. These two categories of particles are defined primarily by their atomic spin (in quantum mechanical terms), with bosons (photons, gluons, Higgs boson<\/a>, W bosons, and Z bosons) having integer spin values and fermions (protons, neutrons, electrons, neutrinos) having half-integer spin values. While two bosons can occupy the same quantum state (which is why photons can pass through each other), two fermions can not\u2014a good thing, since if they could, you\u2019d fall through the floor right now.<\/p>\n But as is true of most things in science, things don\u2019t always line up so neatly. For example, for half a century, scientists have known about the anyon, which exists in two-dimensional space. This quasiparticle<\/a> is essentially anything between a boson and a fermion, which explains why American physicist Frank Wilczek named them \u201cany-ons,\u201d or simply anyons. However, it wasn\u2019t until 2020 that these weird particles were observed experimentally in one-atom thick (two-dimensional) semiconductors. \u201cWe had bosons and fermions, and now we\u2019ve got this third kingdom,\u201d Wilczek said at the time<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s absolutely a milestone.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, scientists from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) and the University of Oklahoma report the existence of a one-dimensional system in which anyons can exist. In two separate papers\u2014both published in the journal Physical Review A\u2014the researchers describe the recipe for adjustable anyons<\/a> and their theoretical properties<\/a>, exploring a new corner of this \u201cthird kingdom\u201d of elementary particles<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery particle in our universe seems to fit strictly into two categories: bosonic or fermionic. Why are there no others?\u201d Thomas Busch, a co-author of both studies from OIST, said in a press statement<\/a>. \u201cWith these works, we\u2019ve now opened the door to improving our understanding of the fundamental properties of the quantum world<\/a> and it\u2019s very exciting to see where theoretical and experimental physics take us from here.\u201d<\/p>\n Anyons only exist in lower dimensions because, to put it very simply, particles in those dimensions have fewer options for moving around. Ra\u00fal Hidalgo-Sacoton (a Ph.D. student at OIST) describes the \u201cexchange factor\u201d that exists in 3D space<\/a>\u2014the property demanding that when two electrons swap places, they must obey a simple rule governing the mathematical statistics of the event: Its square must be equal to 1, meaning that all particles are either -1 (fermions) or 1 (bosons).<\/p>\n In two dimensions, however, it\u2019s not so simple: \u201cTo satisfy the law of indistinguishability, we need exchange factors over a continuous range to account for the exchange, dependent on the exact twists and turns of the paths,\u201d Hidalgo-Sacoto said in a press statement. And whatever lies in that range between -1 and 1 is considered an anyon.<\/p>\n In this study, Busch, Hidalgo-Sacoto, and their colleague Doerte Blume (from the University of Oklahoma) found that this boson-fermion binary remains broken in one dimension, and they even discovered a method to specifically tune the exchange factor. Because of their limited movement in one dimension, particles must pass through each other, and this causes the exchange factor to differ from higher dimensions<\/a>. This is likely connected to the strength of the short-range interaction between the particles.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve identified not only the possibility of existence of one-dimensional anyons, but we\u2019ve also shown how their exchange statistics can be mapped,\u201d Busch said in a press statement. \u201cWe\u2019re thrilled to see what future discoveries are made in this area, and what it can tell us about the fundamental physics of our universe<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n You Might Also Like<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s what you\u2019ll learn when reading this story: In three-dimensional particle physics, elementary particles divide nicely into fermions…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":288667,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[156868,121768,14091,111,139,69,60709,393,147,160376],"class_list":{"0":"post-288666","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-physics","8":"tag-elementary-particles","9":"tag-fermions","10":"tag-frank-wilczek","11":"tag-new-zealand","12":"tag-newzealand","13":"tag-nz","14":"tag-oist","15":"tag-physics","16":"tag-science","17":"tag-thomas-busch"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=288666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288666\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/288667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=288666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=288666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=288666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}