RHIC Collider Creates Quark-Gluon Plasma at 4,000,000,000,000 Degrees Celsius

In summary, scientists at Brookhaven National Lab's Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) have recently recorded the hottest matter ever recorded, reaching a temperature of 7.2 trillion degrees Fahrenheit. This plasma was created through a collision of heavy ions and may have resulted in the temporary formation of a bubble in which normal laws of physics did not apply. The goal of studying this quark-gluon plasma is to gain a better understanding of how matter behaves at extreme temperatures. This research could potentially have implications for theories about the universe's early stages and the presence of dark energy and dark matter.
  • #1
Gaius Baltar
49
0
What are your thoughts?

Apologies if this is in the wrong place...

Until the LHC finally gets up to full speed, Brookhaven National Lab's Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) remains the world's most powerful heavy ion smasher. And on Monday, they showed off some of that power by announcing that a recent collision resulted in the hottest matter ever recorded. Coming in at a scorching 7.2 trillion degrees Fahrenheit, the plasma not only recreated the environment of the Big Bang, but might have also resulted in the temporary formation of a bubble within which some normal laws of physics did not apply.

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-02/rhic-collider-creates-72-trillion-degrees-fahrenheit-quark-gluon-plasma" [Broken]
 
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  • #2
Right place.
Dig deeper to find out more.
Follow the links.

http://www.bnl.gov/rhic/news2/news.asp?a=1073&t=pr

'Bubbles' of Broken Symmetry in Quark Soup at RHIC
Data suggest symmetry may ‘melt’ along with protons and neutrons
Monday, February 15, 2010

New Findings on Hot Quark Soup Produced at RHIC
'Perfect' Liquid Hot Enough to be Quark Soup
RHIC Scientists Serve Up 'Perfect' Liquid

On physics forums you could look for my blog or for “perfect symmetry”
https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?p=2950827#post2950827
jal
 
  • #3
How did the quark-soup stop expanding?
 
  • #4
rustynail said:
How did the quark-soup stop expanding?

It doesn't. It keeps expanding until it reaches the detectors (of course by that time it isn't a quark-gluon plasma anymore and has long since turned into hadrons).

On a lighter note, rumor has it that heavy ion collisions at the LHC could start as soon as this coming week, so the timing of this thread is surprisingly appropriate.
 
  • #5
the_house said:
It doesn't. It keeps expanding until it reaches the detectors (of course by that time it isn't a quark-gluon plasma anymore and has long since turned into hadrons).

So if it wasn't in a closed area, the QGP would turn into hadrons, and then into clusters of matter, follow its own patterns and laws and expand like the universe is expanding?

Also, did the event created by the collision expand inside a 'bubble' or did it 'merge' with its environment?

I think this could open doors for a new take on meta-universe and pre-big-bang environment theories.
 
  • #6
rustynail said:
So if it wasn't in a closed area, the QGP would turn into hadrons, and then into clusters of matter, follow its own patterns and laws and expand like the universe is expanding? [...] I think this could open doors for a new take on meta-universe and pre-big-bang environment theories.

I don't quite follow what you're saying, so I can't comment.


rustynail said:
Also, did the event created by the collision expand inside a 'bubble' or did it 'merge' with its environment?

The environment is a vacuum, so I guess you can think of it as being some sort of bubble, but there's no significant surface tension keeping it together. It basically just explodes into the surrounding space.
 
  • #7
This "bubble" of plasma, perfect liquid has yet to be understood.

What is being studied are the "jets". Or if you prefer the particles leaving the bubble.

The dream is to be able to find how to contain that bubble of perfect liquid and to have a controlled continuous release of those particles so that the energy can be converted to a useable form. (Steam, electricity)

I think that the ideal sized "machine" would be able to replace the train engine.

Further speculations will require another/different thread.
jal
 
  • #8
the_house said:
I don't quite follow what you're saying, so I can't comment

I started a thread a while ago that explained my thoughts about the big-bang not creating everything, but rather exploding inside an existing space-time, but it was closed and removed.

I think that if the RHIC experiment created an environment similar to our big-bang, it could help explain the presence of what some are now calling "dark energy" and "dark matter". As if the universe created by the big-bang were itself acting quite differently from the environment (pre-BB) in which it occured.
 
  • #9
jal said:
This "bubble" of plasma, perfect liquid has yet to be understood.

What is being studied are the "jets". Or if you prefer the particles leaving the bubble.

The dream is to be able to find how to contain that bubble of perfect liquid and to have a controlled continuous release of those particles so that the energy can be converted to a useable form. (Steam, electricity)

I think that the ideal sized "machine" would be able to replace the train engine.

Further speculations will require another/different thread.
jal


Perhaps a bit too much speculation already. :)

Recall that to create a quark-gluon plasma you have to put the energy into the system. There's no extra energy to extract.

The goal of these collisions isn't alternative energy research. Just gaining an understanding of how matter behaves at these extreme temperatures will have to be reward enough, at least for the foreseeable future.
 

1. What is the RHIC Collider?

The RHIC (Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider) is a particle accelerator located at Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York. It is used to accelerate and collide heavy ions, such as gold, to study the fundamental building blocks of matter.

2. What is quark-gluon plasma?

Quark-gluon plasma is a state of matter that existed in the early universe, just after the Big Bang. It is a hot, dense soup of subatomic particles called quarks and gluons, which are the building blocks of protons and neutrons.

3. How hot is 4,000,000,000,000 degrees Celsius?

4,000,000,000,000 degrees Celsius is approximately 7,200,000,000,000 degrees Fahrenheit or 4,000,000,000 times hotter than the center of the sun. It is one of the hottest temperatures ever created in a laboratory setting.

4. What are the implications of creating quark-gluon plasma?

Studying quark-gluon plasma can provide insights into the early universe and the formation of matter. It can also help us understand the properties of strong nuclear force, which holds protons and neutrons together in the nucleus of an atom.

5. Is there any practical application of this research?

While there are currently no practical applications for creating quark-gluon plasma, the technology and methods used in this research could potentially lead to new developments in fields such as energy production and medical imaging.

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