Science
Physicists create quark-gluon plasma using lighter atomic nuclei
Researchers at CERN generated the primordial matter using oxygen and neon collisions, establishing new lower limits for producing the extreme fluid state.
The short version
- Scientists at CERN successfully generated quark-gluon plasma using oxygen-16 and neon-20 collisions, which are less than a tenth the mass of previously used lead atoms.
- The experiment showed that smaller atomic collisions can still produce primordial matter that briefly behaves like an expanding fluid before cooling into standard particles.
- Researchers plan to use these smaller-scale collisions to better understand how the early universe evolved during its first microseconds.
Key facts
- An international research team at CERN generated quark-gluon plasma using oxygen-16 and neon-20 atomic nuclei.[Wired]
- Oxygen-16 and neon-20 are less than one-tenth the weight of lead atoms, which were previously among the primary elements used to create the plasma.[Wired]
- The collisions generated matter that expanded collectively like a fluid before cooling down and reverting into individual particles.[Wired]
- The findings from the study were published in the journal Physical Review Letters.[Wired]
What remains uncertain
- Researchers are still investigating the precise lower size limit of atomic nuclei required to generate the fluid-like plasma state.[Wired]