Quasiparticles

The zoo of spontaneously emerging particlelike entities known as quasiparticles has grown quickly and become more and more exotic. Here are a few of the most curious and potentially useful examples.

An unexpected superconductor was beginning to look like a fluke, but a new theory and a second discovery have revealed that emergent quasiparticles may be behind the effect.

Anyons don’t fit into either of the two known particle kingdoms. To find them, physicists had to erase the third dimension.

Computer simulations and custom-built quantum analogues are changing what it means to search for the laws of nature.