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Superconductivity scandal: the inside story of deception in a rising star’s physics lab

Ranga Dias claimed to have discovered the first room-temperature superconductors, but the work was later retracted. An investigation by Nature’s news team reveals new details about what happened — and how institutions missed red flags.
  1. Dan Garisto
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A diamond anvil cell under a microscope used in superconductivity experiments at the University of Rochester lab led by Ranga Dias.

Ranga Dias and his team at the University of Rochester compressed materials in a device called a diamond anvil cell to explore superconductivity. Credit: Lauren Petracca/New York Times/Redux/eyevine

In 2020, Ranga Dias was an up-and-coming star of the physics world. A researcher at the University of Rochester in New York, Dias achieved widespread recognition for his claim to have discovered the first room-temperature superconductor, a material that conducts electricity without resistance at ambient temperatures. Dias published that finding in a landmark Nature paper1.

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-00716-2

References

  1. Snider, E. et al. Nature 586, 373–377 (2020); retraction 610, 804 (2022).

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  2. Dasenbrock-Gammon, N. et al. Nature 615, 244–250 (2023); retraction 624, 460 (2023).

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  3. Drozdov, A. P., Eremets, M. I., Troyan, I. A., Ksenofontov, V. & Shylin, S. I. Nature 525, 73–76 (2015).

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  4. van der Marel, D. & Hirsch, J. E. Preprint at https://arxiv.org/abs/2201.07686v1 (2022).

  5. Dias, R. P. & Salamat, A. Preprint at https://arxiv.org/abs/2201.11883 (2022).

  6. van der Marel, D. & Hirsch, J. E. Preprint at https://arxiv.org/abs/2201.07686v6 (2022).

  7. Salke, N. P., Mark, A. C., Ahart, M. & Hemley, R. J. Preprint at https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.06301 (2023).

  8. Durkee, D. et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 127, 016401 (2021); erratum 130, 129901 (2023); retraction 131, 079902 (2023).

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