Scientists just created exotic new forms of matter that shouldn’t exist – Hale Plus Hearty
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Description: Tuning magnetic fields over time may unlock entirely new forms of matter—and a more stable future for quantum tech. Credit: AI/ScienceDaily.com Quantum tec
Date: 2026-05-05T07:50:36+00:00

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May 5, 2026 Health

# Scientists just created exotic new forms of matter that shouldn’t exist

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Tuning magnetic fields over time may unlock entirely new forms of matter—and a more stable future for quantum tech. Credit: AI/ScienceDaily.com
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Quantum technology is widely expected to transform how large and complex data sets are processed. Although it is currently used mostly in laboratories and research environments, the field is steadily moving toward real-world applications across a range of industries.

In a recent study exploring the fundamentals of quantum physics, researchers examined how matter behaves at extremely small scales, including atoms, electrons, and photons. The work, led by Cal Poly Physics Department Lecturer Ian Powell, focused on how varying a magnetic field over time can cause matter to exhibit unusual and previously unseen properties.

Powell and student researcher Louis Buchalter, who earned a Cal Poly bachelor’s degree in physics in 2025, published their findings in Physical Review B in a paper titled “Flux-Switching Floquet Engineering.” Their research shows that when magnetic fields are changed in a controlled, time-dependent way, they can generate quantum states that do not exist in materials that remain unchanged over time (remaining in the same state as time elapses).

“On a big-picture level, I would describe this as an advance in our understanding of how time-dependent control can create and organize new forms of quantum matter,” Powell said. “The central idea is that useful quantum properties can depend not just on what a material is, but on how it is driven in time. In our case, we show that periodically changing a magnetic field can produce driven quantum phases with no static counterpart.”

Toward More Stable Quantum Technologies

By carefully timing how magnetic fields are applied, scientists can design quantum systems with properties that are more stable and less vulnerable to “noise” or imperfections. These disruptions are a major challenge in quantum technology, often leading to errors in calculations or system performance.

Powell noted that while the technical details can be difficult to explain outside the field, the broader concept is clear. The findings suggest new ways to create and study these unusual quantum states in controlled settings such as ultracold-atom experiments.

“The most direct industry relevance of our study is to quantum computing and quantum simulation, rather than to a specific end-use sector at this stage,” Powell said. “Any eventual impact on areas like pharmaceuticals, finance, manufacturing or aerospace would likely be indirect, by contributing to the longer-term development of better quantum technologies. To move toward industry use, the next steps would be experimental validation and further work connecting these ideas to realistic quantum-device platforms.”

New Mathematical Patterns in Quantum Systems

Beyond creating new quantum states, the research also identified a mathematical organizing principle that mirrors patterns typically found in higher-dimensional quantum systems. This suggests that relatively simple systems driven by changing conditions could provide new ways to explore more complex quantum physics.

The team also mapped out how these exotic states form, revealing a precise structure in the system’s topological phase diagram. This diagram serves as a visual guide to different stable quantum phases, each defined by fixed topological properties.

Why Quantum Control Matters for Computing

Quantum mechanics allows computing systems to process information in ways that far exceed the capabilities of classical computers. These systems can perform large-scale simulations, analyze vast data sets, and solve complex problems more efficiently.

Magnetic fields play a central role in this process. They are commonly used to control and measure quantum bits (or qubits), the fundamental units of quantum information. Qubits are comparable to the units of 0s and 1s in classicalcomputing (applied in commonplace computing currently) used to represent physical electrical states.

Student Research Experience and Future Work

For Buchalter, participating in the study provided valuable insight into the research process and scientific communication.

“A lot about the process of conducting research and how new research findings are effectively communicated with the broader scientific community.”

“I learned that research is rarely a straightforward process, often requiring persistence and creative problem solving during the course of a research project,” Buchalter said. “I believe our results help demonstrate the power of Floquet engineering for realizing quantum systems with highly-tunable properties, paving the way for further research into periodically driven quantum matter and the development of its applications.”

Buchalter plans to begin a Master of Science program in materials science and engineering at the University of Washington in the fall, where he will focus on experimental studies of quantum matter. He is also considering a future career at a national laboratory working on quantum device development.

“I initially took on the project due to my interest in condensed matter physics, however, I became fascinated with the field of quantum materials through my experience,” Buchalter said. “I am very interested in continuing to study quantum matter and helping develop its applications in electronic and photonic devices.”