Physicists have utilized the game of chess to create intricate labyrinths that have the potential to address global issues. These unique labyrinths, inspired by the movements of a chess horse, hold the key to simplifying industrial processes like carbon capture and fertilizer production. The findings of this study are set to be published in Physical Review X.
Lead researcher Dr. Felix Fliker from the University of Bristol highlighted that the lines constructed by the team resulted in highly intricate labyrinths, with sizes increasing exponentially. By following the movements of a chess horse, which jumps two cells forward and one to the right, each square on a chessboard is visited once before returning to the starting square. This concept, known as “ Hamiltonian Path “, involves traversing all points on a map without revisiting any.
Theoretical physicists from the University of Bristol have successfully created an infinite series of Hamilton cycles in structures that define an exotic material called Quasicrystals. These quasicrystals have atom arrangements different from conventional crystals like salt or quartz, as the atomic patterns in quasicrystals do not repeat at regular intervals.
Quasicrystals can be mathematically represented as slices through crystals existing in six dimensions, whereas our familiar world is three-dimensional. Only three naturally occurring quasicrystals have been identified, all originating from a Siberian meteorite. The first artificial quasicrystal was accidentally produced in 1945 during the Trinity nuclear bomb test referenced in the film “Oppenheimer”.
A team of researchers has discovered that the surfaces of quasicrystals can be described using Hamiltonian graphs. These graphs create pathways that interact with each surface atom exactly once, resulting in intricate