Physicists unveil unexpected properties in superconducting material

Physicists unveil unexpected properties in superconducting material: The discovery that most intrigues the physicists is that beta-YBAL could be revealing an exotic new phase of matter known as the "critical strange metal" phase. At the quantum critical point, the material can shift between conventional electrical behavior, which physicists call a Fermi liquid, to superconducting behavior, and to a condition that resembles neither, called "strange metal" behavior. This behavior has been observed in superconducting materials, but it's not known whether it occurs only in the vicinity of a QCP or whether it can exist over an extended range of physical conditions, which would essentially make it a phase of matter.