8 ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES | OCTOBER 2023 CCQ research team’s new theory explains many oddities about strange metals, such as why the change in electrical resistivity is directly proportional to the temperature, even down to extreme lows. This correlation indicates that a strange metal resists the flow of electrons more than an ordinary metal such as gold or copper at the same temperature. The new theory is based on a combination of two strange metal properties. First, their electrons can become quantum mechanically entangled with one another, binding their fates, and they remain entangled even when distantly separated. Second, strange metals have a nonuniform, patchwork-like arrangement of atoms. The irregularity of a strange metal’s atomic layout means that the electron entanglements vary depending on where in the material the entanglement took place. The variety adds randomness to TESTING | CHARACTERIZATION DETERMINING METAL DUCTILITY WITH QUANTUM MECHANICS A new testing method for predicting metal ductility was created by a team of scientists from Texas A&M University and Iowa’s Ames National Laboratory. The quantum-mechanics-based approach fills a need for an inexpensive, efficient, high-throughput way to predict ductility. The team demonstrated its effectiveness on refractory multiprincipal-element alloys (RMPEAs). These are materials of interest for use in high-temperature conditions— however, they frequently lack necessary ductility for potential applications in aerospace, fusion reactors, and landbased turbines. Another advantage to this new high-throughput testing method is its efficiency. The speed and capacity make it possible to predict which material combinations are worth taking to the experimental level, and it can test thousands of materials rapidly. It also expands on the capabilities of current approaches. The researchers performed validation tests on a set of predicted RMPEAs, materials that have potential use in high temperature environments. Through their validation testing, the team found that the predicted ductile metals underwent significant deformation under high stress, while the brittle metal cracked under similar loads, confirming the robustness of their new quantum mechanical testing method. ameslab.gov. STRANGE METALS MECHANISM REVEALED A mechanism that explains the characteristic properties of strange metals has been revealed by researchers at the Flatiron Institute’s Center for Computational Quantum Physics (CCQ) in New York City. Strange metal behavior is found in many quantum materials, including some that, with small changes, can become superconductors. The Triangular holes make this material more likely to crack from le to right. Courtesy of N.R. Brodnik et al./Phys. Rev. Lett. A new scientific tool called the high-energy electron xtallography instrument (HeXI) combines the power of electron diffraction with x-ray beamline expertise. It is being built by a team at Diamond Light Source, the U.K.’s national synchrotron, and will enable highly precise structure determination. www.diamond.ac.uk. Researchers found that higher (increased) charge activity is responsible for improved ductility in bodycentered cubic metals. Courtesy of P. Singh et al., Acta Materialia, Vol. 257, 15 September, 2023. A new theory explains the unusual behavior of strange metals, considered one of the greatest open challenges in condensed matter physics. Courtesy of Lucy Reading-Ikkanda/Simons Foundation. BRIEF
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