Until now, electrons have been regarded as elementary particles — which means that scientists thought they had no component parts or substructure. But, for the first time, electrons have been observed decaying into two separate parts — causing physicists to rethink what they know about the particles.
The electrons split into two separate parts, each carrying a particular property of the electron. In layman’s terms? The first, called a “spinon” carries its spin — which causes electrons to behave a bit like compass point. The second, called an “orbiton” carries its orbital moment — that’s what keeps electrons moving around the nucleus of atoms. The result is reported in this week’s issue of Nature.
The observations were made in the copper-oxide compound Sr2CuO3, a material peculiar because the particles in it are constrained to move only in one direction, either forwards or backwards. The electron-splitting was measured using X-rays to measure the energy and momentum of particles in the material.
Though the electrons can split, the resulting two parts can’t escape the material in which they are produced. Regardless of that, the finding should transform our understanding of superconductivity — and could even eventually make high-temperature superconductivity a real possibility. And that way, my friend, lies a quantum computer you could own. [Nature via PhysOrg]
Image: David Hilf