For example: physics traditionally tells us that all particles can be classified into one of two types, either bosons or fermions, depending on their properties and behavior. But math says that’s not the whole story – at least, according to a new study.

From the early days of quantum mechanics, scientists have thought that all particles can be categorized into one of two groups—bosons or fermions—based on their behavior.

There is one notable exception to this strict rule of quantum-state segregation. Restricted to just two dimensions, some materials can give rise to a particle-like behavior that breaks the statistical laws expected of fermions and bosons, effectively allowing a unique swapping of quantum states.

In the quantum world, the universe plays by rules so strange that even its smallest building blocks often defy intuition. Now, a team of physicists from Rice University and Max Planck suggests something even more startling: there might be particles that defy the traditional dichotomy of fermions and bosons,