Nature draws one published in March controversial publication back in which a breakthrough in physics was claimed: a superconductor – a material that conducts electricity without resistance – that works at room temperature, without the need to be extremely compressed. It is the third high-profile withdrawal of work from the research group of Ranga Dias, from the University of Rochester.
According to the message in Nature The retraction was requested by eight of the article’s eleven co-authors. They stated that the article “does not accurately reflect the origin of the materials examined, the experimental measurements performed and the protocols applied […]”. In addition, other physicists had expressed concerns about the reliability of the data and other research groups had been unable to reproduce the results.
The other three authors, including Dias, “have not indicated whether they agree or disagree with this retraction.” On And opposite the regional news site RochesterBeacon he responded with a statement that he “refutes all allegations of misconduct and continues to support all scientific conclusions in the article.”
A material that can conduct electricity without resistance at ‘normal’ temperature and pressure is the dream of many physicists. This makes energy-efficient electronics possible, electricity cables that can conduct electricity almost without energy loss and floating magnetic trains that only experience air resistance. Superconductivity is now only possible at extremely low temperatures.
No surprise
The withdrawal is no surprise to colleagues. Nature also pulled last year an article back about superconductivity from the same group after accusations of data manipulation. In April, there was an additional accusation that Dias had plagiarized a large part of his 2013 dissertation. Last August An article that his research group published in 2021 was also withdrawn Physical Review Letters.
The withdrawal follows a heady summer for superconductivity researchers. In July, South Korean researchers claimed to have developed a material (LK-99) that is superconducting at everyday pressures and temperatures. That attracted a lot of attention. However, within a few weeks the study had been repeated by several research groups and LK-99 turned out not to be a superconductor at all. However, this involved research that had not yet been published in a professional journal and where the researchers were open about their method.
Although the withdrawals and disappointments are not good for the credibility of the field, colleagues are giving in a news article by Nature know that the standards in the field are high. And in September, two physicists weighed in NRC that they remain hopeful about finding this holy grail.