A triangular lattice is like a honeycomb, but made of atoms. Electrons scurry across it like marbles on a tilted board, and their path depends on how strongly the atoms jiggle. In a new study, physicists found that if there are few electrons, they line up in a striped pattern, like a zebra. But if there are many electrons and the atoms vibrate strongly, the electrons start flowing without friction: that's superconductivity.
The researchers used a computer model to precisely calculate how electrons behave. They varied three parameters: how many electrons there are, how strongly they couple to atomic vibrations, and how fast the atoms vibrate. It turned out that at one electron density, a striped pattern emerges, and at another, superconductivity. It's like the same wallpaper pattern changing with the lighting.
Such models help understand how real materials work, for example, high-temperature superconductors. If we learn to control atomic vibrations, we could create new materials with desired properties.
Honeycombs are a natural triangular lattice. And superconductivity was discovered by cooling mercury to very low temperatures.
In science fiction, superconductors are often used for levitation and powerful magnets, for instance, in the movie 'Avatar'.