When Dr. Sarachik insisted, Dr. Koch gave an interview at Bell Labs.
In the 1980s, Dr. Sarachik discovered how some two-dimensional materials, usually insulators that do not conduct electricity, can become metallic conductors, which theorists said was impossible.
He also conducted experiments on the quantum behavior of particles that act like magnets. The work showed that the north and south poles of these molecules, each consisting of a few hundred atoms, could shift spontaneously at cold temperatures, where such a tilt was prohibited by classical physics.
Other physicists have tried to prove this, too. But at that time, substances consisting of these particles could only be made in the form of powders. The magnetic fields of these crystal grains were pointing in random directions, and the evidence was not conclusive.
“I wasn’t satisfied with any of the speculations,” said Eugene Chudnovsky, a physicist at Lehman College and Graduate Center at City University of New York. “I was actually like, Miriam, you have some very interesting results, you should post them.” And she said, No, let’s wait. I want to understand it better.
Jonathan Friedman, one of Dr. Sarachik’s students, provided a solution by mixing powder into liquid glue and placing the mixture in a strong magnetic field. The crystals align with the magnetic field and when the glue dried, they kept facing that direction.
Dr Chudnovsky said the clear data sparked an “explosion of research in this area”.
In addition to her daughter, Dr. Sarachik, who lived on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, she was survived by her husband; one brother, Henry Morgenstein; and three grandchildren.
In his 2018 autobiography, Dr. Sarachik concludes with notes on remaining fundamental scientific questions, such as the nature of human consciousness.
He wrote, “Science is just beginning to move toward understanding ‘consciousness’. But the real mystery same – sameSensitization. why me? My self-awareness will soon turn off. You’ve had a great time so far! “
