A Glimpse into a Different Dimension: Scientists Unravel the Odd Physics of Quasicrystals.

Physicists have determined that four-dimensional structures can influence the mechanical and topological properties of quasicrystals. This discovery supports the idea that quasicrystals are formed by hidden physics of higher dimensions rather than merely random patterns. The research has been published in the journal Science, as reported by Interesting Engineering.

A quasicrystal is a solid material with an ordered structure that never precisely repeats, unlike regular crystals, but instead follows specific mathematical rules.

Quasicrystals were first discovered in 1982 by physicist Dan Shechtman. He proposed that quasicrystals also possess a repeating, or periodic structure, but not in the three-dimensional space as we perceive it. Instead, the true periodic pattern of quasicrystals exists in higher-dimensional space, such as 4D or beyond. Now, physicists have provided new insights into this four-dimensional aspect of quasicrystals.

Researchers subjected the quasicrystal to electromagnetic waves and then examined changes in its topology using near-field scanning optical microscopy and two-photon photoemission electron microscopy.

When physicists utilized these methods to study the interference patterns of electromagnetic waves on the surface of the quasicrystal, the movement and interference of these waves revealed hidden imprints of the fourth dimension within the structure of the quasicrystal.

Initially, the patterns appeared different, but surprisingly, their topological properties in 2D were so identical that they could not be distinguished from one another. The only way to differentiate them was to consider the quasicrystal in four dimensions.

Physicists discovered topological patterns in four dimensions that govern the topology of the real space of two-dimensional quasicrystals and reveal their internal conservation laws.

One of their models of quasicrystal structure, which explains its properties, suggests that quasicrystals can be understood as projections of more multidimensional periodic structures into three-dimensional space. Thus, the concepts of four-dimensional crystals can essentially explain some of their properties.

The authors of the study found something that resonates with the existing model. Physicists observed that two surface waves appear different and become identical over a time span of attoseconds, which is one billionth of a billionth of a second.

This discovery hints that the patterns of surface waves in three-dimensional quasicrystals are influenced by hidden four-dimensional periodic structures.