CERN physicists create quark-gluon plasma with oxygen and neon nuclei
This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.
Physicists at CERN's ALICE experiment have created quark-gluon plasma by colliding oxygen-16 and neon-20 nuclei, far smaller than the heavy nuclei previously thought necessary. The collisions produced droplets of the primordial matter that filled the Universe in its first millionth of a second. The findings, published in Physical Review Letters, show the plasma's particle patterns reflect the original nuclear shapes, including a bowling-pin signature from neon.
Key Facts
- The ALICE collaboration at CERN created quark-gluon plasma using oxygen-16 and neon-20 nuclei, smaller than previously required.
- The results were published in the journal Physical Review Letters.
- Collisions of two oxygen nuclei produce a rounded particle pattern, while neon collisions produce a bowling-pin-shaped pattern.
- Associate Professor You Zhou led the experiment and was recently employed at the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen.
Primordial Matter Creation
At CERN, atomic nuclei are accelerated to nearly the speed of light and smashed together to create tiny droplets of quark-gluon plasma. Scientists previously believed that producing this plasma required collisions between very heavy nuclei such as lead. The new experiments show that much smaller nuclei, specifically oxygen-16 and neon-20, can also generate the primordial material. Associate Professor You Zhou, who led the experiment, stated that the team has pushed the boundary for how small atomic nuclei can be while still recreating this primordial matter.
Particle Pattern Signatures
The quark-gluon plasma droplet survives for only a tiny fraction of a second before expanding and converting into other particles. Scientists cannot observe the plasma directly, so they measure the particles that emerge immediately afterward and study their movement patterns. The new results show that these movement patterns preserve information about the original shape of the colliding nuclei. Collisions between two oxygen nuclei generate a relatively rounded pattern, while collisions involving neon create a distinctive bowling-pin-shaped pattern.
1 source
CERN physicists create quark-gluon plasma with oxygen and neon nuclei
