Wenhao Zhang

Dancers hold hands and move in perfect sync. In an excitonic insulator, electrons and holes form bound pairs that condense into a single quantum state, like dance partners who never miss a step. But what happens when one of them stumbles?

Electrons in a conductor usually behave like a gas: they dart around chaotically, collide, and don't hold formation. But if you spread them far apart and cool them down, their mutual repulsion can force them into place, like attendees in an overcrowded hall who settle into every other seat.