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Researchers at the University of Basel and the Technical University of Munich have developed a new method to reveal the collective motion of electrons in one of the most elusive states of matter: the Wigner crystal. Using light, the physicists were able to uncover previously inaccessible properties of this fragile quantum state.
When electrons confined to a two-dimensional plane interact strongly with one another, they can stop moving independently and instead form a periodic lattice resembling the atomic arrangement in an ordinary crystal.
This ordered state, known as a Wigner crystal, has fascinated scientists for decades because its order does not arise from the internal structure of the host material, but from interactions among the electrons themselves.
Although Wigner crystals have been observed in several physical systems, probing their internal behavior—how they move, interact and respond to external perturbations—has remained a major challenge.
