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The age-old alchemist’s dream of turning base metals into gold has, in a sense, been realized at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Scientists have observed the transmutation of lead into gold, not through traditional methods, but via a novel mechanism involving near-miss interactions of atomic nuclei within the particle accelerator.
Accidental Alchemy: Lead to Gold at the LHC
Researchers utilizing the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the globe’s paramount and most potent particle accelerator, have witnessed an unprecedented transmutation of lead into gold. This transition occurred not through direct collisions as initially anticipated, but rather via a novel process involving glancing interactions between atomic nuclei.
The Role of the Large Hadron Collider
The LHC was designed with the purpose of accelerating particles to velocities approaching the speed of light. The resulting particle collisions enable researchers to scrutinize fundamental building blocks of matter and probe the structure of our universe at its most minute scales.
Near-Miss Nuclear Reactions
While direct collisions yield invaluable data, the majority of interactions within the collider are indirect. In these “near misses,” particles traverse close proximity without physical contact, yet generate electromagnetic fields potent enough to initiate unforeseen nuclear reactions.
The Electromagnetic Force
“The electromagnetic field emanating from a lead nucleus is particularly strong because the nucleus contains 82 protons, each carrying one elementary charge,” officials with the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) stated.
They further explained, “Moreover, the very high speed at which lead nuclei travel in the LHC (corresponding to 99.999993% of the speed of light) causes the electromagnetic field lines to be squashed into a thin pancake, transverse to the direction of motion, producing a short-lived pulse of photons.”
The Mechanism of Transmutation
This pulse can initiate a process termed electromagnetic dissociation, wherein a photon interacts with a nucleus, eliciting internal oscillations that expel neutrons and protons. In the scenario of a passing lead atom, the removal of three protons via this mechanism leads to the formation of gold.
“It is impressive to see that our detectors can handle head-on collisions producing thousands of particles, while also being sensitive to collisions where only a few particles are produced at a time, enabling the study of electromagnetic ‘nuclear transmutation’ processes,” said Marco Van Leeuwen, spokesperson for the ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) project at the LHC.
Significance of the Findings
The work “is the first to systematically detect and analyze the signature of gold production at the LHC experimentally,” added Uliana Dmitrieva of the ALICE collaboration.
- Identified proton loss associated with gold, lead, thallium, and mercury production.
- Utilized a zero degree calorimeter (ZDC) to detect and count photon-nucleus interactions by measuring emissions.
The team reported that the LHC can produce up to 89,000 gold nuclei per second from lead-lead collisions. “The ALICE analysis shows that, during Run 2 of the LHC (2015-2018), about 86 billion gold nuclei were created at the four major experiments,” CERN officials wrote.
Fleeting Gold: Not Quite Alchemy
However, aspiring modern-day alchemists may face disappointment as this equates to a mere 29 picograms (2.9 ×10-11 grams) of material, and these gold atoms possess an extremely short lifespan. Due to their high energy levels, they promptly collide with LHC components, such as the beam pipe or collimators, almost instantly disintegrating into protons, neutrons, and other particles. Consequently, the gold exists for only a transient fraction of a second.
“The results […] test and improve theoretical models of electromagnetic dissociation which, beyond their intrinsic physics interest, are used to understand and predict beam losses that are a major limit on the performance of the LHC and future colliders,” concluded John Jowett, also of the ALICE collaboration.