The ALICE detector at CERN confirmed that during ultra-peripheral collisions of lead ions at the LHC, nuclear transmutation was observed for the first time — lead nuclei lost protons and turned into gold.
The ALICE detector at CERN confirmed that during ultra-peripheral collisions of lead ions at the LHC, nuclear transmutation was observed for the first time — lead nuclei lost protons and turned into gold.
According to a report on the official CERN website, ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) recorded how near-collision collisions of superfast lead nuclei create a powerful electromagnetic field that acts like a burst of photons. As a result, the photons can release one or more protons from the nucleus — if there are three such protons, then lead (82 protons) turns into gold (79 protons).
ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is one of the four main detectors at the Large Hadron Collider (CERN), specializing in the study of superdense and hot matter, in particular quark-gluon plasma, which, according to theory, existed in the first microseconds after the Big Bang.
The ALICE detector is located on the border of France and Switzerland, observes collisions of heavy ions (e.g. lead) at ultrahigh energies and allows studying the fundamental properties of matter under extreme conditions. ALICE brings together over 2,000 scientists from 100+ institutes in 40 countries.
This occurs without direct contact of the nuclei. The collisions are ultraperipheral in nature, where the fields of one ion affect the fields of another. This is a new type of nuclear interaction that ALICE has only recently begun to study. The high speed and mass of the lead nuclei create conditions where the electromagnetic fields become so strong that they begin to act as a source of photons. As a result of the photon-nuclear interaction, the excited nucleus loses protons — thus, in the laboratory, an element with fewer protons is created.
Although gold is created only in trace amounts and for a moment, this discovery confirms that atomic transmutation is possible not only in nuclear reactors or under the influence of neutrons, but also as a result of high-speed electromagnetic interactions.
The idea of turning lead into gold has its roots in alchemy. However, it was only with the development of nuclear physics in the 20th century that it was possible to change one element into another by changing the number of protons in the nucleus. ALICE is one of CERN’s main detectors, designed to study the properties of matter at extreme temperatures and densities, in particular quark-gluon plasma.
By the way, we also published an article about the four-legged guards of the Large Hadron Collider. We are talking about robops. We told you more about them, as well as what tasks they perform.
