Microcosmic bang: Mashing atomic nuclei to create a quark soup
According to modern physics, the first micromoments of the Big Bang were a time of unimaginable extremes. No more than a cosmic spark, the universe was then so extraordinarily hot that the strong nuclear force was too weak to keep quarks bound tightly together in protons and other particles of ordinary matter. Free quarks roamed a thick broth of gluons, particles that carry the strong force. Physictists describe this extreme state of matter as a quark-gluon plasma. Now, they think that they have glimpsed such a state in the laboratory in high-energy collisions between heavy nuclei. This article describes the theory, the results and the future for this discovery.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- OSTI ID:
- 468402
- Journal Information:
- Science News, Vol. 150, Issue 12; Other Information: PBD: 21 Sep 1996
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Hot Quark Soup Produced at RHIC
Brighter Beams for Better Physics: Stochastic Cooling in RHIC (430th Brookhaven Lecture)
A experimental research program on chirality at the LHC
Multimedia
·
Fri Feb 12 00:00:00 EST 2010
·
OSTI ID:468402
Brighter Beams for Better Physics: Stochastic Cooling in RHIC (430th Brookhaven Lecture)
Multimedia
·
Wed Dec 05 00:00:00 EST 2007
·
OSTI ID:468402
A experimental research program on chirality at the LHC
Technical Report
·
Thu Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 2016
·
OSTI ID:468402