Magnetic storms inside a new class of materials are shape-shifting when you flip the switch.
April 17, 2026
Original Paper
Abrikosov vortices in altermagnetic superconductors
arXiv · 2604.15204
The Takeaway
In most superconductors, magnetic fields enter as perfect little circles called Abrikosov vortices. But in 'altermagnets,' these circles are crushed into ellipses—and they actually rotate their axis when you reverse the magnetic field. This is the first time we've seen these tiny tornadoes of electricity change their orientation like a compass needle. It breaks the standard symmetry that physicists have relied on for decades. For us, it means we can control magnetic flow with much more precision, leading to faster and more efficient quantum circuits.
From the abstract
We study the penetration of an external magnetic field into a superconductor with collinear $d$-wave altermagnetic order. We demonstrate that instead of circular Abrikosov vortices, the magnetic field generates elliptical vortices with their major axis oriented along one of the crystallographic axis, along which the altermagnetic spin splitting is maximal. Upon reversing the component of the magnetic field parallel to the altermagnetic Néel vector, the vortices reorient towards the other crystal