Electron Orbital Patterns in Uranium Atoms Become Mirror Images in Hidden Order Phase (IMAGE)

Rutgers University

Electron Orbital Patterns in Uranium Atoms Become Mirror Images in Hidden Order Phase

Caption

A Rutgers-led team of physicists discovered a new explanation for the 'hidden order' puzzle that has vexed physicists for 30 years. In an extremely pure crystalline sample of a uranium, ruthenium and silicon compound below the hidden order temperature of 17.5 degrees Kelvin, electron orbital patterns in uranium atoms in adjacent crystal layers become mirror images of each other (right side of illustration). Above the hidden order temperature, electron orbitals in the uranium atoms are the same (left side of illustration).

Credit

Hsiang-Hsi Kung, Rutgers University

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