The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is a massive particle accelerator that sits under the French-Swiss border. It’s famous for smashing particles together at nearly the speed of light. On July 30, 2025, researchers made a surprising discovery: lead ions briefly transformed into gold before returning to ordinary matter. This finding challenges old beliefs about what is possible in physics.
Daniel Tapia Takaki, a physics professor at the University of Kansas and leader of the ALICE experiment, explained that their technique focuses on particles that barely touch. In these “ultraperipheral” collisions, two atomic nuclei pass close enough that their strong electromagnetic fields interact without breaking apart. Instead of chaotic debris, these interactions create identifiable patterns, like a brief flash of light when lead-208 loses three protons and becomes gold-205. However, this transformation exists only for a minuscule time—about 10^-23 seconds!
The ALICE team’s findings show that gold production happens more often than expected. Each major collision in the LHC can lead to nearby events where lead ions turn into gold, albeit briefly. In their detailed analysis, they found that the likelihood of this happening—6.8 barns—comes close to the collision rates of ordinary lead-lead interactions.
This research isn’t just about turning lead into gold. The clean conditions in these experiments allow scientists to explore nuclear structures and conduct tests on quantum electrodynamics (QED) at new energy levels. Tapia Takaki’s team is diving deeper, aiming to understand what occurs with other particle interactions, potentially leading to new discoveries in physics.
Looking ahead, the team plans to investigate even more complex transformations. They intend to analyze reactions involving four and five protons with new data from future experiments. This will help refine existing theories and improve models used to predict particle behavior.
Beyond gold, these “near misses” can create other elements like mercury and thallium. Each has its own unique decay paths and may offer insights into fundamental questions in physics, such as dark matter and the early universe.
As physicists continue to study these phenomena, they further develop the technology and methods that ensure safe and efficient operations in billion-dollar facilities. Understanding these rare events is vital, as it helps maintain the integrity of the LHC and similar projects worldwide.
This ongoing research has the potential to reshape our understanding of physics and provide crucial information for future experiments. For more detailed insights, you can refer to the study published in the journal Physical Review C here.
