An international collaborative research group led by researchers from Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) discovered that the low-frequency vibrational density of states (VDOS) of quasi-two-dimensional (quasi-2D) confined solids follows a new physical law faster than that in classical Debye’s theory. The results have been published in Nature Communications.

Far from equilibrium systems display a plethora of interesting and new phenomena which are relevant for a diverse collection of research areas from ultra-cold gases to heavy ion collisions and quenched systems in material science and which can be directly tested in table-top experiments. Can fluids driven far from equilibrium display any degree of universality?