Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Condensed-matter physics

Hidden is more

Nature volume 493, pages 619–620 (2013)Cite this article

Subjects

Physicists have puzzled over a hidden electronic order in a uranium-based material for decades. A new theory attributes it to not just a single but a double breaking of time-reversal symmetry. See Article p.621

A magnet sticks to a fridge door, but an aluminium spoon does not. This distinction is well understood in terms of the different ways in which the many billions of billions of electrons are collectively organized inside these materials. In a magnet, the electrons form an order: their tiny spins line up along a particular direction, producing an aggregate magnetic moment, whereas in aluminium these spins are randomly oriented. On page 621 of this issue, Chandra et al.1 propose a different kind of electronic order, which could resolve a riddle that has confounded physicists for more than a quarter of a century.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Magnetic orders.

References

  1. Chandra, P., Coleman, P. & Flint, R. Nature 493, 621–626 (2013).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Palstra, T. T. M. et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 55, 2727–2730 (1985).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Schlabitz, W. et al. Z. Phys. B62, 171–177 (1986).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. Maple, M. B. et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 56, 185–188 (1986).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Mydosh, J. A. & Oppeneer, P. M. Rev. Mod. Phys. 83, 1301–1322 (2011).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Si, Q. & Steglich, F. Science 329, 1161–1166 (2010).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Altarawneh, M. M. et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 146403 (2011).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Haule, K. & Kotliar, G. Europhys. Lett. 89, 57006 (2010).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  9. Santander-Syro, A. F. et al. Nature Phys. 5, 637–641 (2009).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Schmidt, A. R. et al. Nature 465, 570–576 (2010).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Aynajian, P. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 107, 10383–10388 (2010).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Park, W. K. et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 246403 (2012).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Qimiao Si is in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA.,

    Qimiao Si

Authors
  1. Qimiao Si
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Qimiao Si.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Si, Q. Hidden is more. Nature 493, 619–620 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/493619a

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/493619a

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing