NEWSROOM

In collaboration with scientists in Germany, EPFL researchers have demonstrated that the spiral geometry of tiny, twisted magnetic tubes can be leveraged to transmit data based on quasiparticles called magnons, rather than electrons.

In physics, some of the most striking phenomena emerge when perfect symmetry shatters. This principle, known as spontaneous symmetry breaking, underlies everything from the Higgs mechanism that gives particles mass to the twist of DNA and the handedness of seashells. Researchers have now uncovered a particularly fascinating stage for this phenomenon in liquid crystals—soft materials that flow like liquids yet maintain molecular order like solids.