Sudden bursts of magnetism induced by protons with heavy ions from experiments at one of the world’s most advanced particle accelerators have allowed scientists to create magnetic vortices stronger than those produced in a neutron star. Earth could thus be considered a place with the necessary conditions to create the strongest magnetic fields in the universe.
Analysis of particle interactions in Relativistic Heavy Ion Accelerator (RHIC) o The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, a unique facility in the world that is part of the United States Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory, has identified traces of record magnetic fields, imprinted in the shower of material released after the collision. between protons and heavy ions.
Stronger than a magnetar
“These fast-moving positive charges can generate a very strong magnetic field that can reach 1018 gauss. “This is probably the strongest magnetic field in our universe,” physicist Gang Wang, one of the authors of the new study published in the journal Physical Review X, said in a press release.
There are places in space where matter is warped so wildly that magnetism becomes a force of immense power. Known as magnetars, gravitationally compacted cores neutron stars concentrate magnetic field with a strength of around 100 billion gauss. A gauss is a unit of magnetic field measurement, also known as magnetic flux induction or magnetic induction.
Although these cosmic giants were thought to produce the strongest magnetic fields in the universe, there may be regions here on Earth where small “pockets of magnetism” could far outstrip neutron stars. These flashes of magnetism, like the ones we saw with RHIC, would be 10,000 times stronger than the most powerful magnetar and 10 billion times stronger than a 100 gauss refrigerator magnet, according to a paper published in Science Alert.
Access to elementary particles
In addition to the incredible power of the discovered phenomenon, it also brings scientists closer to understanding de quark-gluon plasma (QGP). This plasma is a phase of quantum chromodynamics, which indicates a state in which several fundamental components of matter can be identified.
Since this level is currently not directly observable, the reaction between them protons with heavy ions They provide a key approach to this quantum phenomenon.
Link
Observation of the electromagnetic field effect through charge-dependent directed flow in heavy ion collisions in a relativistic heavy ion accelerator. MI Abdulhamid et al. Physical Review X (2024). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.14.011028
