Carbyne, which had previously only been detected in a single tube, exhibits controllable electronic properties vital for semiconductor technology and may be the strongest known material in terms of tensile strength. But, during the experiment, the team observed a puzzling vibrational system state that couldn’t be explained by existing models and was completely misunderstood at the time.
That has now changed, after researchers, led by Emil Parth, MSc, a University of Vienna physicist, and lead author of the study, took a closer look at the previously unexplained state, and finally found answers. They now used an innovative theoretical model enabled by recent breakthroughs in machine learning.