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Scientists Discover Way to Send Information into Black Holes Without Using Energy

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Quantum Entanglement Discovered Inside a Hand-Sized Crystal For The First Time — Scientists Stunned

For decades, quantum physics has been famous for describing a world that feels completely unlike our everyday experience. In the quantum world, particles like atoms, electrons, and photons can exist in strange states—sometimes acting like waves, sometimes like particles, and even becoming linked in ways that seem to defy common sense.

But one big question has always remained:
Can these strange quantum effects exist in large, everyday-sized objects?

A new breakthrough study by researchers at the TU Wien suggests the answer is yes—at least in a surprising form of material known as a strange metal. They have shown that a centimeter-sized crystal can host strong quantum entanglement involving many particles acting together. The findings, published in Nature Physics, could reshape how scientists understand matter at large scales.

From Schrödinger’s Cat to Real Materials

The idea of quantum effects in large objects is not new. It goes back to the famous thought experiment of Schrödinger’s cat, where a cat in a box could be both alive and dead at the same time—at least until observed. This paradox was meant to show how strange quantum theory becomes when applied to everyday life.

Since then, scientists have tried to push quantum effects into larger and larger systems. But directly observing quantum behavior in macroscopic objects has remained extremely difficult, mainly because large systems interact too strongly with their environment and lose their quantum nature.

Instead of trying to place a whole object into a strange quantum “superposition,” the new study takes a different approach. As explained by Prof. Silke Bühler-Paschen from TU Wien, the key question is not whether the whole crystal behaves like a quantum object, but whether its parts are deeply connected through quantum entanglement.

She compares it to an anthill rather than a cat: you do not focus on one insect acting strangely, but on the entire colony responding together.

Quantum Fisher Information: A New Way to Measure Entanglement

To detect this hidden quantum behavior, the researchers used a powerful concept from quantum information science called quantum Fisher information.

This idea was developed in part by theoretical physicists such as Peter Zoller at the University of Innsbruck. It provides a way to measure how sensitive a quantum system is to small changes.

In simple terms, it works like this:

  • If particles are independent, each one responds only on its own.

  • If particles are quantum-entangled, they respond together as a connected system.

  • This collective response can be much stronger than the sum of individual responses.

That “extra sensitivity” is a signature of entanglement. The stronger the response, the more deeply the particles are connected.

This approach is extremely useful because it allows scientists to detect entanglement even in large, complicated materials where direct observation is impossible.

The Strange Metal Crystal Experiment

The research team studied a special crystal made of cerium, palladium, and silicon. This material belongs to a class known as strange metals, which behave in unusual and not yet fully understood ways.

Unlike normal metals, strange metals do not always follow standard rules of electrical conduction. Their electrons appear to behave in a highly correlated and collective manner, making them a major topic of modern condensed matter physics.

To probe the crystal, the team performed experiments at the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble, France. There, they used beams of neutrons to “interrogate” the material.

Neutrons are ideal for this because they can penetrate deeply into matter and interact with atomic structures. When a neutron hits the crystal, it transfers energy and momentum, revealing how the internal particles respond.

One Neutron, Many Answers

What the researchers found was unexpected.

Normally, when a neutron interacts with a material, it is expected to disturb just one particle or a small localized region. But in this experiment, the response looked very different.

As described by Ph.D. researcher Federico Mazza, one neutron seemed to trigger a response from multiple particles at once. Careful analysis showed that the behavior could not be explained by independent particles acting separately.

Instead, the data suggested that groups of at least nine quantum entities were behaving collectively as a single entangled system.

This is extremely important because it provides direct evidence of multipartite entanglement—a form of quantum connection involving many particles at the same time—in a solid material large enough to hold in your hand.

Why This Discovery Matters

This study does more than confirm a theoretical idea. It opens a new bridge between two major fields:

  • Solid-state physics, which studies materials like metals and crystals

  • Quantum information science, which focuses on information, computation, and entanglement

By combining these fields, researchers can now study materials using tools originally designed for quantum computing and quantum communication.

The results also provide a possible explanation for strange metal behavior. In earlier related work involving Rice University and TU Wien, scientists observed that electrical current in strange metals flows in an unusually “quiet” and low-noise way.

One explanation is that entangled particles coordinate their behavior, reducing random fluctuations in electric current.

A General Physical Principle?

According to theoretical physicist Fakher Assaad from the University of Würzburg, this discovery may point to something broader than just one material.

He suggests that strong entanglement could be a general feature of strange metals, not just an exception. If true, this would mean that many materials we already know might hide large-scale quantum structures inside them.

This would significantly change how scientists understand the behavior of electrons in complex materials.

A New Direction for Quantum Science

The researchers at TU Wien see this as only the beginning. Their approach shows that tools from quantum information theory can reveal hidden structures in real materials.

Prof. Bühler-Paschen explains that this is just the first step. The next goal is to explore whether insights from strange metals could be used in future quantum technologies.

One exciting possibility is quantum metrology, a field that uses quantum effects to make extremely precise measurements. If strange metals naturally support strong entanglement, they might one day help build ultra-sensitive sensors.

Bridging Two Worlds

What makes this discovery so important is not only the result, but the method. It connects two worlds that were previously studied separately:

  • The world of abstract quantum information theory

  • The world of real, physical materials

By showing that quantum entanglement can be measured in a macroscopic crystal, the study suggests that quantum physics is not limited to tiny particles or carefully isolated experiments. Instead, it may play a major role in the behavior of complex materials we can physically hold and use.

Conclusion

This breakthrough marks a significant step in modern physics. A centimeter-sized crystal has revealed signs of deep quantum entanglement, showing that the boundary between quantum and classical worlds may be much blurrier than previously thought.

Far from being limited to isolated atoms or photons, quantum effects may be woven into the behavior of large, complex materials. And with tools like quantum Fisher information, scientists now have a new way to uncover them.

The work from TU Wien and collaborators may ultimately lead to new physics, new technologies, and a deeper understanding of how nature works at all scales—from the smallest particles to materials we can see and touch.

Reference: Mazza, F., Biswas, S., Yan, X. et al. Quantum Fisher information in a strange metal. Nat. Phys. (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-026-03298-0

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