E8 structure seen in superchilled crystals
JAN 08, 2010
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.023989
New Scientist : A complex 248-dimensional symmetry called E 8 has been glimpsed in laboratory experiments on exotic crystals. Radu Coldea of the University of Oxford and his colleagues chilled a crystal made of cobalt and niobium to 0.04 °C above absolute zero. Atoms in the crystal are arranged in long, parallel chains. Because of a quantum property called spin, electrons attached to the atom chains act like tiny bar magnets, each of which can only point up or down.Applying a 5.5-Tesla magnetic field perpendicular to the direction of the electrons create spontaneous patterns in the electron spins in the chains, some of which match the E 8 structure. Related link Quantum Criticality in an Ising Chain: Experimental Evidence for Emergent E 8 Symmetry
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