CERN finds evidence of quark-gluon plasma in smaller collisions

· Science · Switzerland

Scientists at CERN's Large Hadron Collider have found compelling new evidence that relatively small atomic collisions can recreate quark-gluon plasma, the state of matter that filled the universe moments after the Big Bang, ScienceDaily reports. The substance forms at temperatures more than 100,000 times hotter than the Sun's core, and was previously associated mainly with large collisions of heavy nuclei. Finding signs of it in smaller systems suggests the conditions for this exotic state can be reached more easily than assumed. The article gives no further figures, such as collision energies or the specific measurements used to identify the plasma. The result bears on how physicists model the early universe and on the interpretation of smaller collision experiments, which could now be used to probe the same physics at lower cost and in more varied configurations.

Why it matters：If quark-gluon plasma appears in smaller collisions, the heavy-ion programs that dominate this field are no longer the only route to studying the early universe — reshaping experimental priorities in nuclear physics.

Key points

  • The plasma appeared in the universe just after the Big Bang.
  • It forms at temperatures over 100,000 times the Sun's core.
  • Evidence was previously tied mainly to large heavy-nucleus collisions.

Sources (original reporting)

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