Scientists may have found a new hidden state of matter between liquid and solid

Scientists at University of California, Berkeley believed that they have found a hidden state of matter between liquid and solid states. This newly-discovered state of matter is beyond an easy explanation due to its complex particle structure.

According to scientists, this state can be explained on the lines on amorphous solids, which are strange mixes of solids and liquids. Glass is most common example of amorphous solids. Glass may look like a perfect solid, but when examined up close by scientists, its intricate arrangement of particles more closely resemble to that of a free falling liquid frozen in time.

As we all are aware that all matter in our surroundings is either made up of solid, liquid or gas, each of these states has its own properties and arrangement of atoms within.

When one of these state changes into another, like a solid melting into a liquid, or a liquid evaporating into a gas - this is known as state of transition. But matter is quite a bit more complex than just those three basic states.

A new hidden state of matter?

According to scientists Dimitrios Fraggedakis, Muhammad Hasyim, and Kranthi Mandadapu of the University of California, Berkeley, there is a state somewhere in between liquid and solid states —itis a kind of rearrangement we didn't know existed.

They believe that there is behaviour on the temperature boundary of supercooled liquids and solids where the static particles remain excited, 'twitching' in place.

Fraggedakis, Hasyim, and Mandadapu used computation and simulation, combined with the results of past experiments, to determine that this transition might not be so neat, featuring a special activity of particles sitting between their normal liquid and supercooled states.

"Our theory predicts the onset temperature measured in model systems and explains why the behaviour of supercooled liquids around that temperature is reminiscent of solids even though their structure is the same as that of the liquid," Mandadapu explains.

"The onset temperature for glassy dynamics is like a melting temperature that 'melts' a supercooled liquid into a liquid. This should be relevant for all supercooled liquids or glassy systems."

Although the overall flow of atoms in a supercooled liquid is effectively zilch, the particles are continuously changing their configurations while stuck in place, resulting in movements called excitations. The researchers treated these excitations in a 2D supercooled liquid as defects in a crystalline solid and calculated what happens as the temperature changes.

The team believes that their model can be expanded to understand how the transition works in three dimensions, too, and offer a theoretical underpinning for future experimental work.

"The whole quest is to understand microscopically what separates the supercooled liquid and a high temperature liquid," Mandadapu says.

"It's fascinating from a basic science point of view to examine why these supercooled liquids exhibit remarkably different dynamics than the regular liquids that we know."

(With inputs from agencies)

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