Scientists Create Fractional Fermi Sea

Recently, an international team of physicists created a new quantum phase of matter called the Fractional Fermi Sea.

Key Points

Experiment: Around 70,000 cesium atoms were cooled to a few nanokelvins above absolute zero and confined using optical lattices.
Formation: Rapid switching between attractive and repulsive atomic interactions caused particles to self-organise into a stable quantum state.
Unique Property: The new state exhibits partially occupied quantum states, displaying properties between conventional bosons and fermions.
Significance: The discovery could advance quantum simulation, precision sensing, secure quantum communication and next-generation materials research.