GoKawiilUniversity of Toronto team finds optical signature of 'octupolar' magnetism
Physicists led by Arun Paramekanti at the University of Toronto devised a technique using rotating light to detect atomic vibrations tied to electron spin, revealing a hidden magnetic state called octupolar order that behaves as if it has eight poles instead of the usual two. The findings, published in Physical Review Letters, provide the first direct optical evidence of this exotic quantum magnetic state in crystalline materials.