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An electric vortex has been witnessed for the first time, admittedly on a much smaller scale than this. Image Credit: Christine Daniloff, MIT Physicists have observed electric eddies created by electrons interacting in a similar way to water molecules in whirlpools, finally confirming long-standing predictions of theorists. When teaching electricity, a popular but widely criticized analogy is that of water flowing through a pipe, with voltage being the reciprocal of the change in elevation, and current the amount of flow in a circuit. Some students find the analogy useful, but many physicists find it misleading because of the differences in the way electrons and water molecules behave. However, in certain materials, the analogy becomes true; The electrons affect each other in a way that is more like interactions between water molecules, leading to liquid-like behavior. One such form of behavior is the creation of whirlpools, which have now been described in Nature for the first tim...

For the first time, physicists have witnessed something very interesting: electrons form eddies like liquids. This behavior is one that scientists have long predicted, but never observed before. And that could be the key to developing next-generation electronics that are more efficient and faster. “Electron vortex is expected in theory, but there is no direct evidence yet, and seeing is believing,” said one of the researchers behind the new study, physicist Leonid Levitov of MIT. “Now we’ve seen it, and it’s a clear sign of being in this new regime, where electrons behave as liquids, not as individual particles.” While electrons flowing in a vortex might not sound like a breakthrough, it’s a big deal because flowing like a liquid results in more energy being sent to the end point, instead of being lost on the way while the electrons are pushed around by things like impurities in matter or vibrations in atoms. “We know that when an electro...