In a groundbreaking discovery, an international team of physicists has observed collective behavior in electrons within minuscule quantum components. The research, published in Nature on June 25, 2025, reveals that electrons can form a 'Coulomb liquid,' a strongly correlated state where they act in unison.
The experiment, conducted by researchers from Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Institut polytechnique (INP) de Grenoble, and the University of Latvia, involved creating electron droplets on a chip. These droplets, acting like nano-particle accelerators, contained only a few electrons, yet exhibited collective behavior similar to that seen in much larger systems.
This finding opens new avenues for exploring quantum materials and simulating exotic states of matter. The ability to study collective behavior in such small systems could have significant implications for quantum technology, potentially leading to advancements in areas like quantum computing and materials science.