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Supersymmetry analog may exist in exotic superconductors

APR 04, 2014
Physics Today

Ars Technica : Supersymmetry (SUSY), which predicts that each known particle has a supermassive partner, is an extension of the standard model of particle physics. So far, however, no partner particles have been observed. A new theory suggests that a SUSY analog could exist in materials known as topological superconductors. These are materials that are regular conductors on the surface, but superconductors internally. The exterior exhibits magnetic behaviors that the theory argues are the symmetric partners to quasiparticles that form in the superconducting interior. Whether this possible emergent behavior can provide any further information on SUSY isn’t clear, and it is entirely possible that this analog exists but SUSY does not.

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