How the World’s Largest Atom Smasher Transformed Lead into Gold – Only to Annihilate It Instantly!

Medieval alchemists dreamed of turning lead into gold, a concept they called chrysopoeia. Today, scientists at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) near Geneva are coming closer to that fantasy. Between 2015 and 2018, they created around 86 billion gold nuclei by smashing lead atoms at lightning speeds—99.999993% the speed of light.

This process resulted in a tiny bit of gold, just 29 trillionths of a gram, which quickly disintegrated. Yet, even this minuscule amount was detected by the ALICE experiment’s sensitive instruments.

Marco van Leeuwen, a spokesperson for ALICE, stated, “It’s impressive that our detectors can manage intense collisions producing thousands of particles, while still being sensitive to rare occurrences like nuclear transmutation.” This well-coordinated work allows researchers to explore rare processes in physics.

Historically, alchemists believed that lead was merely “sick” and could be transformed into gold. They thought that having similar densities was a sign that lead could be “cured.” While their beliefs were misguided, they stumbled upon a truth: lead and gold are quite close on the periodic table, with gold having just three fewer protons than lead.

In particle collisions, only a few protons need to be removed from lead to create gold. Removing one or two protons instead results in thallium and mercury, respectively. Using the ALICE experiment’s precise Zero Degree Calorimeters, scientists can accurately measure these nuclear reactions. The recent findings indicated that gold is now being produced at about 89,000 nuclei per second during the LHC’s third run, thanks to increased energy levels.

Uliana Dmitrieva, a physicist involved with ALICE, mentioned, “This analysis is the first to systematically detect and study gold production at the LHC.” In tandem with advancing theoretical models of electromagnetic dissociation, these results can improve our understanding of beam losses—an important factor for maximizing the performance of the LHC and future colliders.

As we marvel at this intersection of ancient dreams and modern science, it’s fascinating to consider how far we’ve come since the days of alchemy. Understanding particle physics not only adds to our knowledge base but could also lead to groundbreaking advancements in technology and materials science.

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