Live data from Hacker News

Origin of correlated isolated flat bands in LK99

arxiv.org

11–20 of 209 posts

Re: Origin of correlated isolated flat bands in LK99

#11
post #7

Out of curiosity, since this seems like a real inflection point toward trending in that direction, if it becomes increasingly likely that LK-99 or similar material is indeed a high-TC superconductor, what will savvy people be positioning themselves to do? What are good investments? What companies will be started, or what will existing companies be pivoting toward?

Depends if this can scale, and can withstand environments and carry enough current density etc.

If it’s brittle as f, then it limits its applications for example.

Re: Origin of correlated isolated flat bands in LK99

#13
post #7

Out of curiosity, since this seems like a real inflection point toward trending in that direction, if it becomes increasingly likely that LK-99 or similar material is indeed a high-TC superconductor, what will savvy people be positioning themselves to do? What are good investments? What companies will be started, or what will existing companies be pivoting toward?

> What are good investments?

Open-ended research grants to anyone with moderate training in experimental science to just throw shit against the wall and try every last possible combination of something, without concern for 'publish or perish' or jockeying for status in academia. Lets get our smartest and most dedicated technical people back in labs rather than off making CRUD apps for 10x academic wages.

If this discovery is true, we just got lucky. Based on the story we know of LK-99 it almost didn't happen, and our current system is not set up to make these kinds of discoveries quickly. Throwing billions at 'just go find stuff that matters' basic research is ultra cheap in comparison to humanity not having a high-tc superconductor.

Re: Origin of correlated isolated flat bands in LK99

#14
post #11
post #7

Out of curiosity, since this seems like a real inflection point toward trending in that direction, if it becomes increasingly likely that LK-99 or similar material is indeed a high-TC superconductor, what will savvy people be positioning themselves to do? What are good investments? What companies will be started, or what will existing companies be pivoting toward?

Depends if this can scale, and can withstand environments and carry enough current density etc. If it’s brittle as f, then it limits its applications for example.

Even if it is, we can coat it in epoxy and deal with it. And even if we can't, remember the first semi-conductor was germanium. If we have a theoretical and practical reproducible RT Superconductor we will very fast find new, better ones.

Re: Origin of correlated isolated flat bands in LK99

#16
post #14
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends if this can scale, and can withstand environments and carry enough current density etc. If it’s brittle as f, then it limits its applications for example.

Even if it is, we can coat it in epoxy and deal with it. And even if we can't, remember the first semi-conductor was germanium. If we have a theoretical and practical reproducible RT Superconductor we will very fast find new, better ones.

And audio nerds everywhere are still lusting after germanium transistors to this day!

Re: Origin of correlated isolated flat bands in LK99

#17
post #2

"However, substitution on the other Pb(2) does not appear to have such sought-after properties, despite being the lower-energy substitution site. This result hints to the synthesis challenge in obtaining Cu substituted on the appropriate site for obtaining a bulk superconducting sample" OK I'm starting to actually believe that LK-99 might be the real deal.

Can anyone explain what this means in relation to the ability to synthesize it in superconducting form?

Is there a way to force the Cu to the correct site? Or is looking for a new material with similar properties the way forward

Re: Origin of correlated isolated flat bands in LK99

#18
post #16
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even if it is, we can coat it in epoxy and deal with it. And even if we can't, remember the first semi-conductor was germanium. If we have a theoretical and practical reproducible RT Superconductor we will very fast find new, better ones.

And audio nerds everywhere are still lusting after germanium transistors to this day!

Could you explain why? Sounds intriguing.

Re: Origin of correlated isolated flat bands in LK99

#19
post #7

Out of curiosity, since this seems like a real inflection point toward trending in that direction, if it becomes increasingly likely that LK-99 or similar material is indeed a high-TC superconductor, what will savvy people be positioning themselves to do? What are good investments? What companies will be started, or what will existing companies be pivoting toward?

It's going to be a long time before it's put into use if this paper is correct. While it's exciting that a mechanism has been discovered (possibly), it seems to imply that the current method of synthesizing it is partially luck-based, and not very high quality. Of course, if we do understand how it works, lots of people will put lots of research into making a more reliable process, but it's going to take time. I'm not sure a clear path forward exists.
Post reply on HN