Physicists are making strides in understanding the unusual behavior of “strange metals,” which exhibit properties outside the realm of traditional electrical conductors. Ytterbium, a rare earth metal, was used in an international experiment conducted by physicists in Japan to observe the bizarre electrical behavior of a strange metal. The experiment, which involved firing gamma rays at the metal, revealed unusual fluctuations in its electrical charge. The high conductivity of strange metals at extremely low temperatures makes them of particular interest to physicists studying particle physics and quantum mechanics, with potential applications in quantum computing. The study was published in the journal Science and funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy.
