Scientists make game-changing breakthrough that could be the key to building ‘superfast levitating’ trains: ‘A holy grail’

High-speed floating trains may be getting an upgrade thanks to quantum physicists cracking the code of a bizarre phenomenon known as the “pseudogap.” 

Interesting Engineering explained that the pseudogap state refers to how certain materials behave at extreme temperatures. For example, cuprates (copper oxides) act as superconductors at temperatures below minus 220 degrees Fahrenheit but behave as normal metals or semiconductors at higher temperatures. 

At higher temperatures, scientists have observed that such materials transition into the quantum pseudogap state. Basically, this means there is a slight gap in electron energy levels, which occurs when materials don’t reach a low enough temperature to become a superconductor. 

Now that scientists understand better how the pseudogap occurs and how materials behave in this state, they can take the research one step further, hopefully leading to exciting new technologies. 

“The discovery … will help scientists in their quest for room-temperature superconductivity, a holy grail of condensed matter physics that would enable lossless power transmission, faster MRI machines, and superfast levitating trains,” according to a news release about the study, which was published in Science.

While we likely won’t see ultra-fast floating trains anytime soon, understanding the physics behind how they would work is a critical step. However, scientists said this proved particularly challenging, even with the use of quantum computers. 

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But with the help of special algorithms and the Hubbard model — a simplified model used to explain how electrons behave in a material — scientists solved the mystery, as the release detailed. 

By applying the diagrammatic Monte Carlo algorithm, the team discovered that as material in the pseudogap cools toward absolute zero temperatures, it can be made to transition into a superconducting state. In addition, they found that when electrons were arranged in a certain pattern, as explained in the news release, the pseudogap state occurred. 

In less sciencey terms, all of this is to say that the findings have important implications for scientific research and could contribute to other developments. 

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For example, as Interesting Engineering noted, the results could help scientists create room-temperature superconductors and lead to progress in quantum gas simulation — a relatively new field that incorporates several branches of physics. 

However, before these developments can occur, scientists said in the paper, “Further work involving controlled ground-state studies will be necessary to clarify the fate of the pseudogap at low temperatures, which remains an outstanding question.”

While there were already six operational magnetic levitating trains (maglev trains) throughout the world, as of a 2021 Maglev NET report, they travel relatively short distances and have low operating speeds — aside from one in Shanghai that covers 19 miles and can reach speeds of just over 267 miles per hour. 

However, high-speed electric trains are popping up worldwide, including in the U.S., proving that trains are slowly transitioning away from polluting diesel engines. As technologies evolve, we can look forward to faster commutes and a cleaner, healthier environment. 

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