The mysterious physics of strange metals has stumped scientists for 40 years. Brief insights into understanding the problem are already available, but research continues and discovers new and new incomprehensible properties of matter. A new study has shown that electric current flows in strange metals in violation of known physics, and scientists don’t yet understand why this happens.

Strange metals traditionally occupy an intermediate position between dielectrics and conductors. They already have free electrons that can carry an electric charge (allowing current to flow), but they have not yet become conductors in the sense of that term. The synthesis of quantum and classical physics helped begin to understand the nature of strange metals. It also showed that we were most likely misunderstanding the same effect of electric current, for example.

The modern theory of electric current is based on the transfer of charge by quasiparticles represented by the collective action of electrons. The discrete nature of the electric current is manifested in the case of so-called shot noise, where the current in the network occurs not in the form of a uniform charge transfer at a constant value, but in bursts. To find out how current flows in strange metals, scientists have created conditions in which every electron can be tracked.

At the center of the measuring stand were nanoconductors obtained from the combination of ytterbium, rhodium and silicon (YbRh).₂Si₂) 200 nm wide and 600 nm long. This compound belongs to strange metals and, like other strange metals, has atypical properties close to absolute zero. If electric current flowed through this material in separate, particle-like groups of associated electrons, as we imagine, then nothing strange would happen. However, during the experiment, scientists were convinced that the current continued to flow smoothly, without the characteristic fluctuations of shot noise, like water in a wide trough.

In other words, the charge was partially transferred as if there was no participation of electrons, which is incredible. Perhaps the same thing happens in metals and the charge carrier is something other than electrons. Undoubtedly quantum effects appear in this, but physicists will still have to explain it.

The answer to this question will help bring the discovery of superconductivity at normal temperature even closer, because one of the main properties of strange metals is that the resistive behavior near absolute zero is completely different. In metals it changes from zero to high with a jump, in strange metals it grows gradually and linearly instead of jumping. Bring to small and high temperatures; everyone will be happy with the energy.