Scientists have the first direct evidence that the powerful magnetic fields created in off-center collisions of atomic nuclei induce an electric current in 'deconfined' nuclear matter. The study used measurements of how charged particles are deflected when they emerge from the collisions. The study provides proof that the magnetic fields exist and offers a new way to measure electrical conductivity in quark-gluon plasma.
Scientists have the first direct evidence that the powerful magnetic fields created in off-center collisions of atomic nuclei induce an electric current in"deconfined" nuclear matter. This is a plasma"soup" of quarks and gluons that have been set free, or"deconfined," from nuclear matter -- protons and neutrons -- in the particle collisions.
Off-center collisions of atomic nuclei at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider , a Department of Energy particle accelerator user facility at Brookhaven National Laboratory, should generate powerful magnetic fields. That's because some of the non-colliding positively charged protons are set swirling as the nuclei sideswipe one another at close to the speed of light. The fields are expected to be stronger than those of neutrons stars and much more powerful than Earth's.
Physicists report new evidence that production of an exotic state of matter in collisions of gold nuclei at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider can be 'turned off' by lowering the ...