Physicists detect elusive 'magnetricity'
A team of researchers in the UK have created and measured the magnet equivalent of an electrical current, confirming a prediction made 78 years ago.
The discovery not only closes the gap on our understanding two of nature's fundamental forces, but could see the development of even smaller memory devices in computers and other electronics.
Unlike 'traditional' magnets, which have a north and south pole, magnetic monopoles have only one.
Creating monopoles isn't as simple as breaking a dipole magnet in half, as this results in two smaller magnets, each with a north and a south pole.
In September, French and German researchers announced that they had found that a material known as spin ice contains monopoles.
Spin ice is made up of particles that each have both a north and a south pole, but unlike other substances, the crystal structure of the material creates 'quasi-particles' that appear to hold a single magnetic charge.
In this latest piece of research Bramwell's team fired sub-atomic particles called muons - which quickly decay into positrons - into spin ice.
The movement of the positrons revealed not only the presence of monopoles in the spin ice, but that the monopoles were moving.
The movement of these monopoles, known as 'magnetricity', was first proposed in 1931 by English physicist Paul Dirac.
Dr Sean Giblin, co-author of the paper, says "the results were astounding."
"We are finally able to confirm that magnetic charge really is conducted through certain materials at certain temperatures - just like the way ions conduct electricity in water."
Dr Andrew Doherty, a senior lecturer in physics at the University of Queensland says the new research confirms several theoretical ideas about the nature of magnetism and electricity.
"There is a deep symmetry in our theories that tell us that we should be able to apply exactly the same rules to magnetic charges that we do to electric charges," he says.
"So one reason why the research is very cool is because of that very strong symmetry, you expect things to behave exactly analogously to electric charges. This is a very direct experimental evidence of that."
Whether magnetricity will find its way into our lives anytime soon is uncertain, but Bramwell believes it could be used as a more compact form of computer memory.
"Who knows what the application of magnetricity could be in 100 years time."