Elements of Surprise at TIFR

Elemental solids continue to surprise the scientific community, through unexpected quantum behavior. After a general overview of such behavior, I will discuss two discoveries, both from TIFR: i) ultra low temperature superconductivity in solid Bismuth and ii) multiferroic behavior in non magnetic Selenium. I will bring out unifying physics behind these two dissimilar phenomena. A rich hidden physics in Bismuth [1], including a crashed high temperature superconductivity and a potential high temperature magnetism in Selenium will be suggested. It is based on certain unique quantum properties of valence electrons in Bi and Se and neighboring elements in the periodic table.

[1] G. Baskaran, arXiv:1705.01506