Oxygen collisions at high speeds recreate primordial matter in smaller interactions

Physicists working on the STAR experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider collided oxygen nuclei at nearly the speed of light to recreate a primordial state of matter from the early universe, ScienceDaily Physics reported. The findings demonstrate that this exotic substance can form in smaller and lower energy collisions than previously shown. [1]

The experiment challenges established boundaries regarding the physical conditions required to generate the matter, according to ScienceDaily Physics. As FTMQ Science reported earlier, high speed collisions of oxygen nuclei generate a quark gluon plasma, a state where energetic particle jets lose energy as they traverse the medium. [1][8]

The early state of high density and temperature represents a key phase after the origin of the universe. Current cosmological models estimate that the expansion of space from this initial dense state began approximately 13.787 billion years ago. [5][7]

The new results indicate that scientists can recreate these early universe conditions using smaller atomic interactions than expected. The observation alters current understandings of how matter behaved during the initial moments of cosmic expansion. [1]