The hardness of a material normally is set by the strength of chemical bonds between electrons of neighboring atoms, not by freely flowing conduction electrons. Now a team of scientists has shown that ...

MANY of the properties of metals are satisfactorily accounted for in terms of relatively simple models. The cohesive energy even of pure metals presents problems, however, and any experimental ...

The hardness of materials is determined by the strength of the chemical bonds that are formed between the electrons of the neighbouring atoms. For example, the bonds in diamond are very strong, so it ...

An Australian-led study uses a scanning-tunnelling microscope ‘trick’ to map electronic structure in Na 3 Bi, seeking an answer to that material’s extremely high electron mobility. In studying the ...

Scientists in Japan have uncovered a strange new behavior in “heavy” electrons — particles that act as if they carry far more mass than usual. These electrons were found to be entangled, sharing a ...