Science & technology | Magnets. This is how they work

Scientists have found a new kind of magnetic material

“Altermagnets” have been hiding in plain sight for 90 years

Visualisation of altermagnetic spin densities.
Photograph: Libor Šmejkal & Matthias Greber

“Magnets, how do they work?” asked Insane Clown Posse, a hip-hop duo, in their 2009 song “Miracles”. A flurry of recent papers suggests physicists did not quite have the full picture either. A new type of magnetic material may, it seems, have been hiding under their noses.

This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “The altermagnetic alternative”

From the January 27th 2024 edition

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