A new physics sensation, the so-called Pines’ Demon, or the Demon Particle, is not actually a demon. Nor is it a particle; and it’s not new, since its existence has been suspected for over 65 years. This is an amazing story of accidental discovery and it could potentially lead to far-reaching advances in understanding superconductors.
A team of researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Kyoto University found a weird effect while studying a compound called strontium ruthenate (Sr2RuO4), a crystalline combination of two metals, strontium and ruthenium.
Researchers were shooting electrons at strontium ruthenate, and measuring the energies bouncing off