Simulated quantum magnetism can control spin interactions at arbitrary distances

(Phys.org)—Quantum magnetism, in which – unlike magnetism in macroscopic-scale materials, where electron spin orientation is random – atomic spins self-organize into one-dimensional rows that can be simulated using cold atoms trapped along a physical structure that guides optical spectrum electromagnetic waves known as a photonic crystal waveguide. Recently, scientists at Purdue University, Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik, Germany, and California Institute of Technolo