About Wigner Crystal
- A Wigner crystal is the solid phase of electrons, first predicted by Eugene Wigner in 1934.
- It is one of the very first proposed many-body phases stabilized by the electron-electron interaction.
- Formation:
- Interaction among electrons could lead to their spontaneous arrangement into a crystal-like configuration, or lattice, of closely packed electrons.
- This could only occur because of their mutual repulsion and under conditions of low densities and extremely cold temperatures.
- This is because the potential energy dominates the kinetic energy at low densities, so the detailed spatial arrangement of the electrons becomes important.
- To minimize the potential energy, electrons form a crystal-like configuration.
- A true Wigner crystal, instead of following the familiar laws of physics in the everyday world, would follow the laws of quantum physics, in which the electrons would act not like individual particles but more like a single wave.
- Wigner crystal is stable at extremely low densities. If the density increases, the kinetic energy becomes important, and eventually the crystal melts.
- Wigner crystal is very difficult to observe experimentally. The reason is that it is very fragile with respect to the environment.
Related Topics:
Q1: What is quantum physics?
Quantum physics is the study of matter and energy at the most fundamental level. Quantum mechanics is a subfield of physics that describes the behavior of particles — atoms, electrons, photons and almost everything in the molecular and submolecular realm.
Source: Quantum crystal of frozen electrons—the Wigner crystal—is visualized for the first time
Last updated on July, 2025
→ UPSC Notification 2025 was released on 22nd January 2025.
→ UPSC Prelims Result 2025 is out now for the CSE held on 25 May 2025.
→ UPSC Prelims Question Paper 2025 and Unofficial Prelims Answer Key 2025 are available now.
→ UPSC Calendar 2026 is released on 15th May, 2025.
→ The UPSC Vacancy 2025 were released 1129, out of which 979 were for UPSC CSE and remaining 150 are for UPSC IFoS.
→ UPSC Mains 2025 will be conducted on 22nd August 2025.
→ UPSC Prelims 2026 will be conducted on 24th May, 2026 & UPSC Mains 2026 will be conducted on 21st August 2026.
→ The UPSC Selection Process is of 3 stages-Prelims, Mains and Interview.
→ UPSC Result 2024 is released with latest UPSC Marksheet 2024. Check Now!
→ UPSC Toppers List 2024 is released now. Shakti Dubey is UPSC AIR 1 2024 Topper.
→ Also check Best IAS Coaching in Delhi