- Researchers recently found evidence of “dark electrons”—electrons that you can’t see with spectroscopy—in solid materials.
- By analyzing the electrons in palladium diselenide, the team was able to find states that cancel out in the same way, blocking the “dark states” electrons from view.
- Scientists believe that this behavior can be found in many other materials, and may help explain why some superconductors behave in unexpected ways.
If you were to shine a light on a blank wall, you might be surprised to see that the light makes a series of rings everywhere it hits. That’s the result of what’s called interference—light waves hitting each other more or less coherently. If the waves are combined, you have constructive interference, and you get a bright signal. If the waves don’t waver, you have destructive interference, and you get a dark signal. If the frequency is ‘five’ perfectly, the destructive interference is too extreme, and you get no signal at all.
Light is the simplest example, but it’s not the only thing that has interference. Interestingly, electrons can interfere with each other if they have completely different energies. This can lead to the presence of ‘dark electrons’ – electrons in ‘dark regions’ that you cannot see with a spectroscope.
For a long time, we thought that these hidden electrons do not exist in solid materials. Electrons cannot move very far from each other, so it was thought that such a completely different energy would be impossible. But recently, a group of scientists led by South Korean researchers found that these states occur even in condensed matter, which could have a major impact on our understanding of quantum physics. A paper on these findings has recently been published in a journal Natural Physics.
“This hidden state could be a missing clue that is important to understanding quantum phenomena that remain elusive,” the authors wrote in the paper. “Therefore, it is very important to identify the existence of other natural states that were not known until now and to reveal their processes.”
The researchers first discovered these dark regions in a crystalline material called palladium diselenide, or PdSe.2. By looking at the behavior of electrons in this atmosphere, the team discovered whole clusters that they knew were meant to exist, but couldn’t see. They analyzed the data using several polarizations of light to make sure that the dark areas they saw were the result of the electrons themselves and not the light used to analyze them.
Once they found their clusters, researchers used models to transfer their findings to other systems. And the exciting thing is that they were able to present their results in a simple way (well, as easy as you can do anything in quantum mechanics). Their findings suggest that the dark electrons they found in PdSe2 they are not just artifacts—they are a sign that dark conditions may be found everywhere in nature.
As Keun Su Kim-one of the authors of that study-said Young Scientistthis discovery has the potential to explain why some strange materials behave like superconductors under unexpected conditions. If we can’t see even a fraction of their quantum behavior, it’s no wonder we couldn’t make heads or tails of it before. But knowing what we want now can lead to much-needed clarification.
Darkness in science often means mystery. But secrets can be answers themselves, at least until you dig deeper.
Jackie is a writer and editor from Pennsylvania. He is passionate about writing about space and physics, and loves to share the amazing wonders of the universe with anyone who will listen. He is looked after in his office by his two cats.
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