Discovery of magnet "monopole" with only north pole and south pole, breakthrough limit of high density integration

Tokyo Metropolitan University Tokyo has released a theory that shows that it is theoretically shown that a magnet (magnetic monopole) having only N or S poles can be made with a simple structure combining ordinary magnets and platinum. This was done by Graduate School of Science and Engineering Graduate School of Science and Engineering and Researcher Shouji Takeuchi.

(PDF file)Discovery of magnet / magnetic monopole with only north pole and south pole


According to the release, if it is possible to make a monopole with a simple structure of a magnet and platinum junction, it becomes possible to make magnets with only north poles in information equipment, and rare earth metals that have problems in reserving resources There is a possibility to be able to create a high density device without using it. Also, by manipulating the monopole and creating a flow, it becomes possible to operate the magnetic field and the electric field equally, and it is expected that new information transmission beyond the principle of operation and information recording become possible is.

The current produced by the magnetic monopole flow and the monopole generated in the junction structure of the magnet (upper layer) and platinum (lower layer)


Conceptual diagram of magnetic monopole (spin damping monopole) generated from relativistic effect (spin orbit interaction) and magnetization in magnet


In order to understand what is great about this, first of all, Wikipedia's "Magnetic monopoleLet's read the following explanation of

There are always two magnetic poles of N pole and S pole in the magnet, and this combination is called a magnetic dipole. Magnets and magnetic monopoles (monopoles) having only N poles and only S poles have not been observed until now and are considered to be absent. For example, assuming that there is a bar magnet whose both ends are N pole and S pole respectively, even if this is broken into two in the middle, there are two bar magnets whose both ends are N pole and S pole respectively It is as simple as possible and it is not possible to simply extract only N and S poles. Given an electromagnet, this can be easily understood. An electromagnet is a coil through which an electric current is passed, and even if it is divided into two, only two electromagnets having half turns are born. Even for permanent magnets, the atoms of the substances constituting the permanent magnet have the same function as the electromagnet, and the principle is the same. Classical electromagnetism represented by Maxwell's equation is constructed under this premise.

In other words, even if you cut the magnet shorter and smaller, the N-pole and S-pole can not be separated. However, the theory that "Is not it so?" Appears.

On the other hand, for electricity, there are two plus and minus, which can be taken out alone. This is because the base of electricity originates from plus protons and minus electrons. And classical electromagnetism is symmetric about the relationship between electricity and magnetism, it is possible to reverse this relationship. Normally, a magnetic field is generated by the electricity flowing through the coil, which generates magnetic force, in other words, the movement of the electrons circulating on the circumference. This can be replaced with a model in which an electric field is generated by the magnetic monopole circulating on the circumference. That is, Maxwell's equation can be easily modified to allow the existence of a magnetic monopole. Furthermore, in 1931, Dirac was able to think of a magnetic monopole even in quantum mechanics, and the magnetic monopole became a hot attention by indicating that the minimum unit of the magnetic charge is determined from the conditions for making it possible .

For this, the following sentences of the release are more intelligible.

It is quite natural to think that particles with magnetic charges that are the source of magnetism should exist in the same way because there are particles that have electric charges that are sources of electricity and are free to move like electrons.

There is a fundamental problem with this, how "In the unified theory that unifies the fundamental forces existing in the natural world other than gravity, it is shown that the generation of magnetic monopoles requires huge energy equivalent to the early days of the universe, and of course, There is no technique to create it onThat thing. However, this discovery says, "By using the relativistic effects of heavy elements in magnets, it became clear that it is possible to generate magnetic monopoles in the laboratory, It has greatly developed the natural law of the world ".

So, what we can do specifically is as follows.

In other words, for the first time since the completion of electromagnetism in the 19th century, we can treat electricity and magnetism equally. This technology utilizing the magnetic monopole has the potential to open up a vital path for high density integration and energy saving of devices that will limit the limit in the near future and development of new information communication technology etc. by existing methods.

This result is expected to be posted as a remarkable paper (Editors' Choice) in the March 2012 issue of the Journal of the Physical Society of Japan (JPSJ) published by the Japan Physical Society.