0
    0
    Your Cart
    Your cart is emptyReturn to Shop

        Monopoles

        The blogosphere (and science news-cliposphere) is all agog aver the discovery of magnetic monopoles, from Nature to SlashdotNanowerk Physicsworld

        Dirac strings
        Dirac strings

        What’s happened is the publication of some papers and preprints about observation and measurement of monopoles in spin ices, particularly in the complex crystal structures of compounds such as Ho2Ti2O7 and Dy2Ti2O7 at cryogenic temperatures.

        Dirac Strings and Magnetic Monopoles in Spin Ice Dy2Ti2O7

        Magnetic Charge Transport

        Observation of Magnetic Monopoles in Spin Ice

        This is really cool stuff, but it needs to be pointed out that these monopoles and connecting Dirac strings are not new fundamental particles that can exist apart from the crystal structures. They are patterns in the spin states of the atoms in the structures, as explained (and predicted) in this paper:

        Magnetic monopoles in spin ice (pdf)

        So don’t throw away your superconducting electromagnets just yet.

        Leave a comment

        Privacy Overview

        This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.