MIT Physicists Visualize 'Second Sound' in Superfluid for the First Time

The groundbreaking discovery reveals a new form of heat movement, potentially impacting the understanding of superconductors and neutron stars.

MIT physicists have successfully captured direct images of a phenomenon known as second sound in a superfluid, marking a significant breakthrough in understanding heat movement in rare states of matter.
The discovery reveals that in a superfluid, heat can move like a wave, sloshing back and forth, independent of the material's physical particles.
This wave-like movement of heat, or second sound, was visualized in a superfluid state created by cooling a cloud of atoms to extremely low temperatures, resulting in a friction-free fluid.
The findings could have implications for understanding heat movement in other materials, such as high-temperature superconductors and neutron stars, potentially leading to advancements in these fields.
The research was supported by the Science Foundation, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship, and conducted by the MIT-Harvard Center for Ultracold Atoms.