00:00 Hi, you are watching InDeath with Hila.
00:04 Scientists have discovered a remarkable demon particle that holds the potential to usher
00:08 in a new era of superconductors.
00:11 This demon particle was first predicted nearly 70 years ago by physicist David Pines.
00:17 The demon in this case actually stands for "distinct electron motion" with the suffix
00:21 on added to it.
00:22 Recent advancements by researchers at the University of Illinois have led to the identification
00:27 of a transparent, massless, and neutral particle, indicating its capacity to manifest regardless
00:33 of temperature, within the metal strontium ruthenate.
00:37 Let's understand this discovery and the basics behind it more clearly.
00:42 Atoms are the building blocks of matter, and electrons are one of the building blocks of
00:46 atoms.
00:47 Alone, these subatomic particles have a negative charge and a tiny bit of mass, but they can
00:52 combine in solids to form composite particles with new charges and masses.
00:57 In 1956, theoretical physicist David Pines predicted the existence of a composite particle
01:03 in solids that would have no mass, no electric charge, and wouldn't interact with light.
01:09 He then gave it a truly metal name, the demon particle.
01:13 Electrons can lose their individuality in solids as electric interactions make the electrons
01:18 combine to form collective units.
01:21 With enough energy, the electrons can form composite particles called plasmons with a
01:26 new charge and mass determined by the underlying electric interactions.
01:30 However, the mass is usually so large that plasmons cannot form with the energies available
01:36 at room temperature.
01:37 But Pines theorized there was an exception to this.
01:41 He argued that if a solid has electrons in more than one energy band, as many metals
01:45 do, their respective plasmons may combine in an out-of-phase pattern to form a new plasmon
01:50 that is massless and neutral a demon.
01:54 Because this quasi-particle is massless, it can form with any energy and potentially at
01:58 any temperature.
02:00 The demon particle has since been suspected of playing a role in phenomena exhibited by
02:04 some metals, including superconductivity.
02:09 Superconductivity is the ability of a material to transport electricity without any resistance.
02:14 No one had been able to confirm the demon particle's existence so far before this
02:18 recent announcement.
02:21 Researchers at the University of Illinois discovered the demon particle in strontium
02:25 ruthenate, a metal that's similar to high-temperature superconductors but is not a superconductor
02:30 itself.
02:31 Now that the team has proven the existence of the demon particle and demonstrated a technique
02:35 for finding it, future studies could look for demons in other materials.
02:41 That could not only help determine whether the particle does play a role in superconductivity
02:45 and other phenomena, but perhaps lead to the discovery of something entirely unexpected.
02:50 [Music]
03:18 (wind whooshing)
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