The scientists at the university of the State of Pennsylvania announce the possible discovery of an entirely new matter phase: a ultra-cold, forms "supersolid" of helium-4.

Writing in a January issue of the nature, the physicist Moise H. W Chan and his graduated student, Eun-Seong Kim of state of Penn, explain why their material is a solid in the sense that all its atoms helium-4 are cold in a rigid crystal trellis, just like the atoms and the molecules in a normal solid such as the ice. The difference is that "frozen," in this case, does not mean "stationary." Since the trellis helium-4 is so much very cold, less than one tenth of a degree above absolute zero, the laws of the uncertainty of quantum succeeds. Indeed, the helium atoms start to behave as if they were solid and fluid in the the same time. In the good circumstances, in fact, a certain fraction of the helium atoms can start to move by the trellis like a substance known under the name of "superfluid": a liquid which moves without friction some. Thus the "named supersolid".

Posted By: Sarah