Physical Review Letters

University 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.

science.slashdot.org · 2026-10-04

LZ Dark Matter Detector Records Unexplained Particle Event in South Dakota

Physicists operating the LZ Dark Matter Experiment nearly a mile underground in South Dakota detected a single subatomic interaction that doesn't match any known physics signature. The team has submitted findings to Physical Review Letters, stressing they cannot yet say whether it's a dark matter signal, background noise, or something entirely new.

futurism.com · 2026-09-05