Three-dimensional skyrmion: Scientists observe theoretical particle for first time
March 2 (UPI) -- Forty years after scientists first theoretically predicted the existence of a three-dimensional skyrmion, scientists have observed the particle in the lab.The particle, observed cold quantum gas, isn't a normal particle composed of electrons, protons and electrons. It is a quantum particle, the energy signature created by the interactions between a particle and the surrounding system.In this instance, the quantum particle is a tangled knot of magnetic moments in the quantum gas."The quantum gas is cooled down to a very low temperature where it forms a Bose-Einstein condensate: all atoms in the gas end up in the state of minimum energy," David Hall, a professor of quantum physics at Amherst College, said in a news release. "The state does not behave like an ordinary gas any...