The breakthrough adds to the two previously known states of magnetism.

'We’re showing that there is a third fundamental state for magnetism,' says MIT professor of physics Young Lee.

MIT physicists grew this pure crystal of herbertsmithite in their laboratory to prove the existence of a new state of matter. This sample, which took 10 months to grow, is 7 mm long (just over a quarter-inch) and weighs 0.2 grams.

TYPES OF MAGNETISM

Ferromagnetism, the simple magnetism of a bar magnet or compass needle, has been known for centuries.

In a second type of magnetism, antiferromagnetism, the magnetic fields of the ions within a metal or alloy cancel each other out.

In both cases, the materials become magnetic only when cooled below a certain critical temperature.

The prediction and discovery of antiferromagnetism — the basis for the read heads in today’s computer hard disks — won Nobel Prizes in physics for Louis Neel in 1970 and for MIT professor emeritus Clifford Shull in 1994.

The experimental work showing the existence of this new state, called a quantum spin liquid (QSL), was reported in the journal Nature.

The QSL is a solid crystal, but its magnetic state is described as liquid: Unlike the other two kinds of magnetism, the magnetic orientations of the individual particles within it fluctuate constantly, resembling the constant motion of molecules within a true liquid.

There is no static order to the magnetic orientations, known as magnetic moments, within the material, Lee said.

 'But there is a strong interaction between them, and due to quantum effects, they don’t lock in place,' he says.

Although it is extremely difficult to measure, or prove the existence, of this exotic state, Lee says, 'this is one of the strongest experimental data sets out there that [does] this.

The findings could also bear on research into high-temperature superconductors, and could ultimately lead to new developments in that field, he says.

'We have to get a more comprehensive understanding of the big picture,' Lee says.

'There is no theory that describes everything that we’re seeing.'

Subir Sachdev, a professor of physics at Harvard University, said the results are: 'are very significant and open a new chapter in the study of quantum entanglement in many-body systems.'