New Superconductor Scandal: What We Know So Far

Sabine Hossenfelder

Background and Initial Claims

Ranga Dias from University of Rochester claimed room temperature superconductor discovery
Material supposedly worked at 10,000 bar pressure (10,000x atmospheric pressure)
Media reported as "moderate pressure" despite extreme conditions
Would have been revolutionary for electric grid efficiency if legitimate

3 years earlier: Dias published Nature paper on superconductor breakthrough
- Paper retracted 2 years later due to data analysis doubts
Already had reputation issues before new discovery announcement
Colleagues highly skeptical of new claims

Main problem: graph showing resistivity drop to zero (superconductivity hallmark)
Graph relied on questionable noise subtraction
Within days, experts showed neat resistivity drop disappeared without noise subtraction
Led to scrutiny of earlier PRL paper, also retracted for data anomalies
Allegations of PhD thesis plagiarism

Wall Street Journal reported: co-author students requested Nature retraction
Students claimed Dias misrepresented data
Dias discovered plan, sent cease and desist letters via lawyer
Students proceeded anyway after legal advice
University of Rochester stripped Dias of lab and students, started 4th misconduct investigation

September: Nature added editor's note questioning data reliability
November: Paper officially retracted
Nature investigation revealed graduate students' concerns dating to 2020
2020 paper: preliminary result students couldn't reproduce, shouldn't have been published
American Physical Society found Dias likely fabricated data for first paper
Students discovered inconsistent measurements, systematic errors too high for conclusions
Dias rushed second paper, gave students <12 hours to comment
Two weeks ago: University concluded 4th investigation, found research misconduct

Students knew issues years ago but had no one to turn to
No investigators contacted students during misconduct reviews
Graduate students/postdocs highly dependent on supervisor approval
- Risk losing funding and project work
- Need connections and recommendation letters
Professors operate with little oversight
Universities conducted multiple investigations finding nothing initially
- Likely didn't investigate thoroughly
- Hoped issues would be forgotten

Early 2000s superconductor scandal at Bell Labs
Schön claimed could turn semiconductors into superconductors
Won 2001 Breakthrough of the Year award
2002 investigation found data tampering, fabrication, distortion, deletion in 16/24 papers
Fired from Bell Labs
Started believing he was onto something, made data "prettier" to convince others
Got trapped in deception when reality didn't comply

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