I asked ChatGPT about LK-99

I recently stumbled on a Twitter post about LK-99 and the response of this potential breakthrough by the science community is unlike anything I've seen in a very long time. Long story short, my interest is peaked.

I spent an hour or so trying to understand what this was all about but once the research paper got into superconductors I felt like this was way over of my head.

Next stop: Podcasts.

Nope, nothing. It's too new. The news came out on Friday and I could only find 1 6 minute news piece on it. I wanted something that dove in. So no.

I wanted to find information ideally close to the source. Something serious. No memes. I am not a conspiracy theorist, I like to remove the BS out of the equation so I knew YouTube wasn't going to be helpful.

I remembered that ChatGPT has Plugins, you can input a URL to a PDF and it will use the PDF as context so I figured this, if it works well, would be a nice way for me to understand the research paper.

It did not disappoint. The following is a conversation I had about LK-99 with ChatGPT.

Me

Are you able to provide me with an explain like I'm 5 of this pdf: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2307.16892.pdf

ChatGPT

Used?Accurate PDF PLUGIN: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2307.16892.pdf

Sure, I'll try to explain this like you're 5 years old!

This paper is about a special kind of rock called "Cu-doped apatite." Imagine you have a big box of Lego blocks, and these blocks are all the same type. This is like a normal rock. Now, imagine if you take out one Lego block and replace it with a different, special Lego block. This is like "doping" the rock, or adding something different to it.

In this case, the special Lego block is a "Cu" block, which stands for Copper. When you add this Copper block to the rock, it changes the way the other blocks fit together. This is like the "structural distortion" caused by the Copper ions.

Now, imagine if these Lego blocks could sing. In a normal rock, all the blocks sing together in harmony. But when you add the special Copper block, some of the blocks start to sing a different song. These are the "isolated bands" mentioned in the paper.

The cool thing is, when the blocks sing this different song, it might make the rock superconductive, which means electricity can flow through it very easily. This is like the "superconductivity" mentioned in the paper.

But, this is just a guess right now. The person who wrote the paper did some calculations to try and understand this better, but they say more work needs to be done to be sure.

Remember, this is a very simplified explanation and the actual paper is much more complex and detailed!

Me

so " Now, imagine if you take out one Lego block and replace it with a different, special Lego block. This is like "doping" the rock, or adding something different to it." means it would be the same shape as the other lego blocks but it would be made by a different material?

ChatGPT

Yes, that's a good way to think about it! In our Lego analogy, the special Lego block (the "Cu" or Copper block) is the same shape as the other blocks, so it can fit into the structure of the rock. But it's made of a different material (Copper instead of whatever the other blocks are made of), so it changes the properties of the rock.

In the real world, "doping" a material like this can change many things about it, such as how it conducts electricity, how it responds to heat, and more. In this particular paper, they're interested in how doping the apatite with Copper might make it superconductive.

Me

When you say doping the apatite, are you essentially saying "what happens when we switch one block with this special block" ... meaning how does an environment change once a different species is introduced (for example). Is that along the lines of what you are saying?

ChatGPT

Yes, that's exactly right!

"Doping" in materials science is like introducing a new species into an environment in biology. Just like introducing a new species can change how an ecosystem behaves, introducing a new type of atom (like Copper in this case) into a material can change how that material behaves.

In the case of this paper, they're looking at what happens when you introduce Copper atoms into a mineral called apatite. They're particularly interested in how this might change the material's electronic properties, and whether it might make the material superconductive.

So, going back to the Lego analogy, it's like seeing how the whole Lego structure changes when you replace one of the regular Lego blocks with a special Copper Lego block.

Me

ok so the original normal blocks are apatite?

ChatGPT

Yes, that's correct! In this analogy, the original normal Lego blocks represent the atoms in the mineral apatite. When we introduce the special Copper Lego block (or "dope" the apatite with Copper), we're changing the structure and potentially the properties of the apatite. This is what the researchers are studying in the paper.

Me

Ok so ultimately if you have this Copper that is introduced to the apatite there is this theory that it creates superconductivity and then the most important part is that that superconductivity can exist in room temperature??

ChatGPT

Yes, you've got it! The ultimate goal of many researchers in this field is to find a material that can exhibit superconductivity at room temperature. Superconductivity is a state where a material can conduct electricity without any resistance, which is very useful for many technologies. However, most known superconductors only work at very low temperatures, which makes them difficult to use in everyday applications.

In this paper, the researchers are studying what happens when you introduce Copper into apatite. They're hoping that this might create a new type of superconductor. It's not clear from the summary whether they expect this superconductivity to occur at room temperature, but that would certainly be a very exciting result if it were the case.

Me

What is an example of very low temperatures? What is the normal temperature where you have superconductivity??

ChatGPT

Superconductivity was first discovered in mercury in 1911 by Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, who found that the material's electrical resistance disappeared when it was cooled to around -269 degrees Celsius (or 4 degrees above absolute zero, which is 0 Kelvin). This is extremely cold - colder than the surface of Pluto!

Since then, many other superconducting materials have been discovered. Some of these materials, known as "high-temperature superconductors," can become superconducting at somewhat higher temperatures. However, "high-temperature" in this context is still quite cold by everyday standards. The highest temperature at which superconductivity has been observed is about -70 degrees Celsius (or 203 Kelvin) in a material under high pressure.

So, finding a material that can exhibit superconductivity at room temperature (around 20-25 degrees Celsius, or 293-298 Kelvin) is a major goal in the field of condensed matter physics. It would have huge implications for technology, as it would make it much easier to use superconductors in everyday devices.

Me

What devices use the most superconductors today??

ChatGPT

Superconductors are used in a variety of applications today, particularly in fields where their zero electrical resistance and the ability to create strong magnetic fields are beneficial. Here are a few examples:

• Medical Imaging: Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machines use superconducting magnets to generate the strong, stable magnetic fields needed for imaging the body's internal structures.
• Particle Accelerators: Large particle accelerators, like the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, use superconducting electromagnets to accelerate particles to high speeds.
• Power Grids: Superconductors can transmit electricity with no energy loss, making them potentially useful for power transmission lines. There are already some pilot projects testing the use of superconducting cables in power grids.
• Maglev Trains: Some types of magnetically levitated (maglev) trains use superconducting magnets. The magnets allow the train to float above the tracks, reducing friction and allowing for very high speeds.
• Quantum Computers: Superconductors are also used in some types of quantum computers, where they are used to create qubits, the basic units of quantum information.

Remember, all these applications currently require cooling the superconductors to very low temperatures, which can be expensive and energy-intensive. That's why there's so much interest in finding a room-temperature superconductor.

Me

Thank you!