Scientists find crystals inspired by satellite orbits

So far, researchers were only aware of the highly-ordered, repeating honeycomb-like pattern of atoms that form a crystal. However, now the physicists claim to have discovered a new form of crystal that seems to have been inspired by the orbits of satellites.

The whole idea behind crystal lies in the symmetry of the way in which its atoms are arranged. But, the new crystal identified by the scientists, exhibits a unique symmetry, which depends on how its particles move.

The researchers say that it is not possible to notice the unique symmetry in a still image of the crystal. It is only possible to witness the “dancing” motion of the atoms if someone makes a movie of them.

Researcher Latham Boyle from the University of Waterloo was trying to figure out how to enhance the capabilities of a future space-based gravitational wave detector when he stumbled upon this new kind of crystal. Boyle's intention was to find a plausible heir to the recent LISA Pathfinder.

LISA comprises of three satellites trailing Earth as they complete their orbit around it. The three satellites send laser beams back and forth toward each other, forming a triangle. However, the researchers fear that a passing gravitational wave might disrupt such communication and the disruption can be picked up by a highly sensitive detector.

Therefore, the physicists decided to brainstorm and look for an alternative to prevent such disruption. They concluded that including a fourth satellite would help them measure polarization, the direction in which the wave is travelling and the gravitational wave's amplitude. The next thing was to find a symmetrical four-satellite orbit, which was nearly impossible.

Soon, Boyle ended up applying a static form of symmetry to dynamic objects and pondered if he could find a corresponding dynamic symmetry. He soon found that a four-satellite system has very high dynamic symmetry.

“Instead of considering dances performed by satellites in circular orbit around the sun, we could instead think of analogous dances performed by electrons or nuclei movie through 2D or 3D space along straight-line trajectories,” said Boyle, reports Gizmodo. “And the same mathematical techniques that let us systematically find all the choreographed satellite orbits could also be used to find all these more general choreographed dances.”

The complete details of the discovery have been published in Physical Review Letters.