Can energy truly be converted into matter in our world?

[Any name will do]

Homework Statement

I am not a student; I have no homework to do; yet it's a research question I would like to ask to satisfy my own curiosity.

The question is: "We can turn matter into energy, by reducing the total mass in a nuclear fission, in which the loss of mass gets converted into energy according to the famous equation by Albert Einstein. However, have we, humans, ever produced an event in which energy turns into mass? Or have we ever observed such an event in which an energy loss creates matter? Do we have any theories how that may be done or caused to happen? and if yes, we do have widely-accepted theories by peers that describes how that could happen or be done, then could you please describe that event here as an answer, in terms that are understood by a physics-dilettante?"

I have prep school education in physics, which mainly involved classical physics (kinetics, mechanics, waves, harmonic motion, heat-pressure-volume equivalencies, etc.) I have no experience studying relativity physics or quantum physics. By prep-school education I meant that I finished grade 13 physics in Ontario in 1974, which at the time was an advanced high school subject, preparing pupils to enter university and take higher-level courses without the need to take prerequisites.

Relevant Equations

m=e/c^2

Theoretically possible, only if the process is reversible. But is it really. My knowledge base is insufficient to answer that. I need help.

 

[PeroK]

Turning energy into matter and vice versa is something of an imprecise statement of relativistic particle physics. In particle collision experiments (that are routinely done at CERN and other particle accelerators):

1) Particles with a small rest mass (e.g. protons) are smashed together to produce a particle or particles with a greater total rest mass. You could describe this as kinetic energy being converted into mass-energy.

2) The larger particles (which are often short-lived) decay into particles with less rest mass (and more kinetic energy). You could describe this as mass-energy being converted into kinetic energy.

 

[Ibix]

Fusion that forms anything heavier than iron results in atoms that have a larger mass than the sum of the masses of their inputs; the difference comes from the kinetic energy of the initial atoms/ions. So the production of about half the periodic table in supernovae is another example.

 

[Any name will do]

Thank you, PeroK and Ibix. Your answers have fully satisfied my curiosity.

 

[kuruman]

Not to ignore pair production wherein the energy of a (zero mass) gamma ray is converted into a massive particle-antiparticle pair in the vicinity of a nucleus.

 

[Any name will do]

Not to ignore pair production wherein the energy of a (zero mass) gamma ray is converted into a massive particle-antiparticle pair in the vicinity of a nucleus.

Thanks also to you, Kuruman.