A thin wire of the new material conducts electricity without loss when cooled to three degrees above absolute zero. It's like water flowing through a pipe without any friction against the walls. The material is called PtPb3Bi, and its hallmark is an internal structure resembling a bundle of threads: electrons run freely along a thread but struggle to jump between threads.
At around 280 Kelvin (roughly 7 degrees Celsius), a charge density wave emerges in the material — electrons arrange into a periodic pattern, like kernels on a corncob. This doesn't hinder superconductivity at lower temperatures; rather, it highlights the material's unusual topology. Topology here refers to a property of electron cloud shapes that remains unchanged under smooth deformations, just as the hole in a bagel doesn't disappear if you gently squish the bagel.
Such a material could become the foundation for quantum computers, where information is stored in exotic particles that are resistant to disturbances. This is only a first step, but it shows that quasi-one-dimensional superconductors are a promising arena for discovering new quantum states.
Superconductivity at 3 Kelvin is colder than the surface of Pluto, where temperatures hover around 40 Kelvin.
In Larry Niven's novel Ringworld, superconducting threads hold up a giant structure — perhaps quasi-one-dimensional superconductors could be a step toward such technologies.