Psience Quest

Quote:New experimental evidence of a collective behavior of electrons to form “quasiparticles” called “anyons” has been reported by a team of scientists at Purdue University.

Anyons have characteristics not seen in other subatomic particles, including exhibiting fractional charge and fractional statistics that maintain a “memory” of their interactions with other quasiparticles by inducing quantum mechanical phase changes.

Quote:“Anyons only exist as collective excitations of electrons under special circumstances,” Manfra said. “But they do have these demonstrably cool properties including fractional charge and fractional statistics.

It is funny, because you think, ‘How can they have less charge than the elementary charge of an electron?’ But they do.”