How electrons split: New evidence of exotic behaviors

Electrons may be seen as small magnets that also carry a negative electrical charge. On a fundamental level, these two properties are indivisible. However, in certain materials where the electrons are constrained in a quasi one-dimensional world, they appear to split into a magnet and an electrical charge, which can move freely and independently of each other. A longstanding question has been whether or not similar phenomenon can happen in more than one dimension. A team lead by EPFL scientists