Hyperuniformity

Disordered Hyperuniformity is a type of liquid which has crystal properties. It greatly suppresses variations in the density of particles, like a crystal, and the particles have the same physical properties in all directions at shorter distances, like a liquid. It was discovered in the eyes of chickens. This is thought to be the case because chicken eyes cannot support the ordered, complex system best for eyesight. This may eventually be used for self-organizing colloids or optics with the ability to transmit light with crystal efficiency while still retaining liquid flexibility.

Unique optical properties have been uncovered in dense hyperuniform materials, wherein light of a wavelength specific to the material is able to propagate forward despite high particle density due to microscopic order. The uniformly spaced particles scatter light as it propogates through the material, but most of the scattering self-interferes except that in the direction of propagation. In conditions where light is propagated through an uncorrelated disordered material of the same density, the material would appear opaque due to multiple scattering. Such materials can be theoretically designed for light of any wavelength, and the applications of the concept cover a wide variety of fields of wave physics and materials engineering.

The term hyperuniformity was coined by chemist and 'packing' expert Salvatore Torquato, co-author of a pioneering 2003 paper on the topic. Torquato says that another example of this ordering is that found in a shaken box of marbles, which fall into an arrangement, called “maximally random jammed packing.” Two classes of hyperuniformity include equilibrium systems - such as quasicrystals - and “nonequilibrium” systems, which include shaken marbles, emulsions, colloids and ensembles of cold atoms.

See also

• Quasicrystal

External links

• A Bird’s-Eye View of Nature’s Hidden Order, Natalie Wolchover, Quanta Magazine