Breaking a 150-Year-Old Law of Physics

Researchers from the Indian Institute of Science and National Institute for Materials Science have shown that electrons in ultrapure graphene can behave like a near-frictionless fluid. Near the Dirac point, they form a collective “Dirac fluid,” exhibiting properties similar to exotic states studied in particle physics.

Crucially, the experiments reveal a breakdown of the Wiedemann–Franz law, with heat and charge flowing independently in an unprecedented way. This discovery opens a path to ultra-efficient electronics and precision quantum sensors, while turning graphene into a laboratory for probing extreme physics.

This episode includes AI-generated content.