Third Form of Magnetism Discovered After 100 Years

For more than 100 years, scientists thought they knew everything about how magnets work. They were wrong.

Three physicists just won the 2026 Europhysics Prize for discovering altermagnetism, a completely new form of magnetism that challenges a century of established physics. The breakthrough could transform how we build computers and advance quantum technology in ways we're only beginning to understand.

Professor Jairo Sinova of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Dr. Libor Šmejkal, and Professor Tomas Jungwirth received one of Europe's most prestigious honors in physics for their work. Their discovery emerged from eight years of collaboration between research teams in Germany and Prague.

Until now, physicists divided magnets into two categories. Ferromagnets, like refrigerator magnets, have aligned magnetic moments that create a net magnetic field. Antiferromagnets have opposing magnetic moments that cancel each other out, producing no overall magnetization.

Altermagnets break all the rules. Like antiferromagnets, they have no net magnetization because their magnetic moments cancel out. But their electrons behave like those in ferromagnets, supporting electrical currents with strongly polarized spins and displaying extremely rapid magnetic dynamics.

This strange combination makes altermagnets perfect for next-generation electronics. They could dramatically increase the speed and capabilities of future computing devices, potentially revolutionizing information technology.

The discovery started with theoretical investigations into unusual electrical behavior in certain magnetic materials. What first appeared as isolated exceptions eventually revealed a broader pattern involving electron spin symmetries.

In 2022, the team published a comprehensive classification identifying hundreds of materials that could exhibit altermagnetism. Experimental physicists around the world quickly confirmed their predictions using advanced techniques like angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy.

"Discovering that an entirely new magnetic phase had remained hidden for more than one hundred years demonstrates that even the most mature scientific fields can still hold fundamental surprises," said Professor Sinova, who directs the Spin Phenomena Interdisciplinary Center at Mainz University.

The Ripple Effect

Altermagnetism has become one of the hottest topics in physics, with research teams across Europe, North America, and Asia now exploring its potential. The discovery extends far beyond better electronics.

Scientists are finding unexpected connections between altermagnetism and major areas of modern physics, including topological phenomena, unconventional superconductivity, and quantum materials with strong electron interactions. Each connection opens new research frontiers that could lead to technologies we haven't even imagined yet.

The breakthrough reminds us that nature still holds fundamental secrets, even in fields we thought we completely understood.