Experimental atomic physicists have found that electrical resistance caused by particle collisions appears to have a maximum limit.
Researchers from the University of Toronto, L'École Normale Supérieure in Paris and Lehigh University in Pennsylvania reached the finding by studying ultracold potassium atoms cooled to nearly absolute zero. As the scientists increased the frequency of collisions between the atoms, resistance initially rose. Beyond a certain point, however, it stopped climbing.
The result offers a more detailed view of how resistivity develops at the microscopic level.
Why Electrical Resistance Matters
"Electron-on-electron collisions are known to increase resistivity in some pure materials," explains Professor Joseph Thywissen in the Department of Physics and the Centre for Quantum Information and Quantum Control in the Faculty of Arts & Science at the University of Toronto, senior author of a study published in Physical Review Letters. "The energy produced by electrical resistance shows up as heat. Transmission lines, for instance, lose up to eight per cent of generated electrical power. Resistivity is also interesting to study because it can be a signature of new physics in materials."
