This year, physicists gave us an early view of a third kingdom of quasiparticles that only arise in two dimensions.
The rest of the particles in the universe are bosons, a group that includes particles like photons (the messengers of light and radiation) and gluons (which “glue” quarks together). Unlike fermions, two or more bosons can exist in the same state at the same time.
This article appeared in Discover’s annual state of science issue as Anyons Join the Particle Party.
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