Physicists mimicking Big Bang accidentally turn lead into gold
Scientists made an unexpected breakthrough and accidentally struck gold while researching the Big Bang
The Big Bang is a source of wonderment and interest for the human race. The scientific theory describes the universe's expansion from an extremely dense and hot state into the universe we know - or think we know - now.
Most physicists believe the universe was born in the Big Bang 14 billion years ago and the scientific community holds a vast interest in the theory. However, one study went slightly awry recently when physicists unintentionally struck gold when trying to recreate the very event that is believed to have created the universe we call home today.
While attempting to recreate the conditions just after the Big Bang, physicists at Europe's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) produced gold by accident. The surprising twist happened when lead atoms were smashed together at high speeds for the ALICE experiment in Switzerland, and small amounts of gold were unintentionally produced.
The amount of gold produced was miniscule - amounting to just 29 trillionths of a gram. However, the occurrence has been hailed as an "impressive" feat.
ALICE, standing for A Large Ion Collider Experiment, aims to explore the early moments of the Universe following the Big Bang by colliding heavy atomic nuclei at temperatures exceeding the core of the sun.
Through these collisions, researchers temporarily generate quark-gluon plasma, a state of matter from the nascent universe when protons and neutrons' constituents, quarks and gluons, weren't bonded.
This plasma examination helps scientists understand the origins of matter. The team managed to extract three protons from lead atoms - but inadvertently created gold atoms.
"It's impressive that our detectors can handle both major collisions that create thousands of particles and these smaller events that make just a few particles at a time," remarked Marco Van Leeuwen, leader of the ALICE project.
In the groundbreaking experiment, scientists observed the transformation of lead atoms into different elements by narrowly missing each other instead of colliding head-on.
The powerful electromagnetic fields generated in these near-misses can lead to the atoms changing their composition, according to the researchers.
"The very high speed at which lead nuclei travel in the LHC... causes the electromagnetic field lines to be squashed into a thin pancake and transverse to the direction of motion," CERN officials explained.
"This produces a short-lived pulse of photons."
This photon pulse can initiate a complex phenomenon known as electromagnetic dissociation. This ultimately leads to the creation of gold.
Incredibly, the research marks the first time that gold production has been systematically detected and analysed in an LHC experiment. It is believed medieval alchemists dreamed of transmuting lead into gold.
The Large Hadron Collider is the world's most powerful particle accelerator. It sprung back to life in 2022 after a three-year shutdown and went on to embark on another run of cutting-edge physics experiments.
The findings were published in the Physical Review Journals.
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