The Quantum World Only Partially Melts

At the Vienna University of Technology, the transition of quantum systems towards thermal equilibrium has been investigated. Scientists have detected an astonishingly stable intermediate state between order and disorder. The results have now been published in the journal "Science". Every day we observe systems thermalizing: Ice cubes in a pot of hot water will melt and will never remain stable. The molecules of the ice and the molecules of the water will reach thermal equilibrium, ending up at the same temperature. Well-ordered ice crystals turn into a disordered liquid. Experiments at the Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology (VCQ) at the Vienna University of Technology have shown that in the quantum world the transition to thermal equilibrium is more interesting and more complicated than assumed so far.