Physics is being revolutionized by the unique “hat” shape that has amazed mathematicians. Scientists have now forecasted the characteristics of a two-dimensional material based on this hat shape, known as a quasicrystal. This material, which is orderly like a crystal but with non-repeating atomic arrangements, shares similarities with graphene, a crystalline material. The findings of this study are reported in a forthcoming paper in Physical Review Letters, and physicist Sinéad Griffin of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory describes it as a “really fun study.” Previously, mathematicians required multiple shapes to cover an infinite plane in a nonrepeating manner, but the hat shape has changed that. Some earlier nonrepeating tilings, such as Penrose tilings, have connections to real-world materials, including quasicrystals found in meteorites and atomic bomb test debris, as well as those created in the lab (SN: 5/17/21).
2024-01-25 11:00:00
Source from www.sciencenews.org
