Research shows that Heat can freeze water in a quantum world, it is established that the high temperature of water can also cause it to become a solid state.
In early spring, snow and ice begin to melt as temperatures rise. This phenomenon shows the change from solid to liquid when heat energy is added to the material. We can see this easily in nature. Continued heat will cause the water to rise, according to the laws of physics that we all know.
Now, a recently published study, published in Nature Communications, turned the idea on its head and established that the high temperature of water can also cause it to become a solid state.
However, the system created is not the normal solid form that we know that, unlike ice cubes and water, it is only under extreme conditions, in which the effects of quantum mechanics begin to play an important role.
In fact, the laws of quantum mechanics allow the creation of unusual forms of matter, which are opposed to simple arrangements in solids, liquids and gases.
One of these super solid states is the so-called super solid. In solid matter, the particles arrange to freeze in an ordered state, at the same time, can pass through the formed structure without any conflict.
Therefore, they have both a solid and a super fluid. This apparent consistency has fascinated scientists for decades, starting with the first super solidity proposal more than 50 years ago.
However, scientists have recently found a way to investigate these questions in real experiments. This is made possible because of the type called ferrofluids: microscopic magnets, suspended in liquid.
Experiments on quantum ferrofluids
Developed at NASA in 1960, ferrofluids are magnetic colloids that have many surprising properties and can be applied to electronics, engineering and other industries. In a quantum ferrofluid, magnetic particles correspond to individual atoms.
In the laboratory, these dipolar quantum liquids are tiny water droplets with about 10,000 atoms, which are cooled by laser light to a temperature close to absolute zero.
An extreme situation like this can force all the atoms to condense into a single state and form a so-called Bose-Einstein condensate.
This state can be thought of as a fluid that can expand without resistance – a zero-viscosity superfluid. In a dipolar superfluid, the magnetic interaction between atoms can induce the appearance of regular phases in the condensate.
The resulting situation coincides with the extreme, dramatic situation that was observed a few years ago in many downward experiments. New knowledge to solve scientific puzzles
Based on these results, a collaboration exists between researchers from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya – BarcelonaTech (UPC), the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB) in Palma de Mallorca, the University of Aarhus in Denmark and from the University of Innsbruck in Austria. out to understand the role temperature plays in the phenomenology of dipolar super solids.
Although most of the previous tests were conducted at very low temperatures, an experiment by the University of Innsbruck was conducted to study the melting behavior of super solids under controlled temperature changes. To everyone’s surprise, the data showed that increasing temperatures could trigger the formation of a solid rather than the expected melting behavior.
The theory was developed by Juan Sánchez Baena, a postdoctoral researcher in the Computer Simulation and Condensed Matter (SIMCON) group of UPC, during a research visit to Aarhus University, in collaboration with Aarhus professor Thomas Pohl and UIB professor Fabian Maucher. Researchers have provided a deeper explanation for this seemingly contradictory behavior. Increasing the temperature generally increases the change in a process that accelerates the thermal movement of the body. If this movement is too great, the solid melts or the liquid evaporates. Raising the temperature of the Bose-Einstein condensate increases the exchange rate and removes atoms from the condensate, which are still part of the liquid. The magnetic interaction of this small part of the displaced atoms can lead to the formation of a super solid system.
“The science of dipolar quantum fluids has already shown many surprises, but we never expected that these fluids could be so hard and hot,” says researcher Thomas Pohl, who leads the research effort at University. from Aarhus. “Deciphering this puzzle is an exciting puzzle to solve and is an important next step toward a better understanding of these rich and fascinating processes.”
In fact, the findings of the authors can initiate a thorough investigation of the thermodynamics of dipolar super fluids, which remains in uncharted territory until now. “The study of this effect raised many other questions,” says first author Juan Sánchez Baena. “I think we can use our recent knowledge to solve some of these remaining mysteries,” the researcher adds.
Increasing the temperature of the dipolar liquid can induce periodic changes in the solid state of matter. Heat usually causes matter to melt or vaporize, but in a dipolar quantum liquid it can produce a solid mass, in which mesoscopic quantum droplets organize themselves into regular patterns.
Source: Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · BarcelonaTech
