Intriguing state of matter previously predicted in graphene-like materials might not exist after all
Virtually every material undergoes atomic-level ordering when cooled to temperatures approaching absolute zero. Liquid water, for example, is frozen into atomically ordered crystalline ice. However, condensed matter physicists have theorized that it may be possible to achieve a state called a quantum spin liquid, in which quantum-mechanical effects or the structure of the atomic lattice hinder the development of atomic order while retaining strong electronic interactions. Seiji Yunoki and colleagues from the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science and the RIKEN Advanced Institute for Computational Science have now shown through detailed calculations that achieving the quantum spin liquid state may be more difficult than previously thought.