6 ms·
tl;dr The authors studied simulations of electrical conduction in a semi-conductor crystal. They found "bound states" of two electrons with two holes, whic
by dieselerator 7y ago
tl;dr
The authors studied simulations of electrical
conduction in a semi-conductor crystal. They
found "bound states" of two electrons with two
holes, which they call "pi-tons" a kind of
quasi-particle that only exists in the crystal.
They hope to find experimental evidence for this.
This looks like a more complicated version of a one
electron one hole bound state called an "exciton" [1].
(I have no expertise in this topic.)
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exciton https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exciton
- srl 7y agoAnd apparently, "pi-ton" is not a pun on "pion" at all, but rather derived from a characteristic momentum that comes up... somewhere. (I didn't read the article so closely -- just enough to be horribly disappointed that the pun I was expecting, was absent.)
- SiempreViernes 7y agoI also don't have much expertise in condensed matter physics, but this summary looks convincing enough that it saves me the trouble of reading what is most likely a reworded press release. Many thanks!