Fundamental effect of superconductor physics observed 30 years after it was predicted

An experimental discovery of a fundamental physical phenomenon is not something that happens often. Yet this is what Skoltech researchers and their European colleagues recently managed to do: In their paper in Nature, they report the experimental demonstration of the so-called AC coherent quantum phase-slip effect. It holds promise comparable to that of the Josephson effect, which underlies the present-day standard of voltage and ultrasensitive magnetic field sensors.