The quantum spin liquid that isn’t one

Prof. Andrej Pustogow The simplest explanation is often the best - this also applies to fundamental science. Researchers from TU Wien and Toho University recently showed that a supposed quantum spin liquid can be described by more conventional physics. For two decades, it was believed that a possible quantum spin liquid was discovered in a synthetically produced material. In this case, it would not follow the laws of classical physics even on a macroscopic level, but rather those of the quantum world. There is great hope in these materials: they would be suitable for applications in quantum entangled information transmission (quantum cryptography) or even quantum computation. Now, however, researchers from TU Wien and Toho University in Japan have shown that the promising material, κ-(BEDT-TTF)₂Cu₂(CN)₃, is not the predicted quantum spin liquid, but a material that can be described using known concepts. In their recent publication in the journal "Nature Communications", the researchers report how they investigated the mysterious quantum state by measuring the electrical resistance in κ-(BEDT-TTF)₂Cu₂(CN)₃ as a function of temperature and pressure.