The behavior of electrons and other particles depends on their environment. In particular, the interactions inside materials can alter the collective properties of the material's electrons, producing what are effectively new "particles"—known as quasiparticles—with correspondingly new behaviors. The surfaces of solids are fertile ground for quasiparticles, since they are two-dimensional; as we've seen in a number of other experiments, the loss of the third dimension can lead to exciting new physics.

A new experiment involving a graphene-like material has shown that it's possible to perform some spectacular manipulations of the properties of these quasiparticles. The work is described in a Nature letter by Kenjiro Gomes, Warren Mar, Wonhee Ko, Francisco Guinea, and Hari C. Manoharan. The team arranged carbon monoxide molecules to form the same hexagonal pattern found in graphene, except that they could change the spacing slightly. 

This produced an environment where the material's electrons behave remarkably like relativistic particles, with a "speed of light" that they can adjust. Additionally, the researchers could change the spacing between molecules in a way that the masses of the quasiparticles changed, or cause them to behave as though they are interacting with electric and magnetic fields—without actually applying those fields to the material. This setup will potentially help us explore new physics that may arise in these environments. 

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