Phys.org April 9, 2018
The duality concept in physics holds that fundamental sets of phenomena seemingly exclude each other but represent two sides of a coin, an example of duality is the wave-particle duality of light appearing in the quantum realm. An international team of researchers (Russia, USA – University of Chicago, Caltech, Argonne National Laboratory, France, Spain) has experimentally established the existence of the super insulating state, while also proposing that it “mirrors” the behavior that occurs in the superconducting state. Superinsulating and superconducting materials realize duality between electric and magnetic effects. This means that mirroring superconductors have infinite conductance, while superinsulators have infinite resistance. The research could lead to development of supersensitive and energy-efficient sensors, detectors and logical switches for science and communication, memory storage and other emergent technologies…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLEÂ
For the first time, Argonne scientists and other collaborators observed the mirror-like physics of the superconductor-insulator transition. They now see it operates exactly as expected. Credit: Shutterstock / ktsdesign