Magnetars are a unique type of neutron star with a magnetic field that’s trillions of times stronger than the Earth’s. For example, if you get closer to a magnetar than about 1,000km, it could completely destroy your body! Shockingly, scientists have found potential zones on Earth that experience flashes of magnetism even stronger than a magnetar’s.
How is this possible, you ask? The answer lies in the US Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, home of the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). Here, scientists have discovered evidence of extraordinary magnetic fields after colliding nuclei of various heavy ions.
They hope to learn more about atoms by observing the movement of smaller particles – quarks, which are the building blocks of all visible matter, and gluons, the particles that binds quarks together. Another discovery of antimatter and its interaction with the field is giving us significant insights into the structure of the universe.
To study these particles, physicists needed a super-strong magnetic field. They achieved this by using the RHIC to collide heavy atomic nuclei, specifically gold. This created an electric current in the quarks and gluons, resulting in a new method for studying this “quark-gluon plasma”.
One of the physicists, Diyu Shen, believes this can help scientists further understand the intricacies of the building blocks of life. In fact, these collisions created a magnetic field that is likely the strongest in the universe, easily outperforming magnetars.
However, observing the field wasn’t possible due to its brief existence. So instead, they watched the movement of charged particles. Aihong Tang, another physicist at the lab, confirmed these observations were a clear sign of a magnetic field being formed where the heavy ions collided.
Now, thanks to this discovery, they can find out more about the QGP’s conductivity. According to Shen, this property is fundamental and measuring it was never done before. The scientists will use the data on how much the particles are deflected to determine the strength of the electromagnetic field and the conductivity in the QGP.
So these heavy ion collisions have not only helped scientists generate the strongest magnetic field observed, but might also lead to breakthroughs in our understanding of the universe!
Vocabulary List:
- Magnetars (noun): A unique type of neutron star with an extremely strong magnetic field.
- Neutron Star (noun): A celestial body that consists primarily of neutrons.
- Magnetic Field (noun): A region around a magnetic material or a moving electric charge where the force of magnetism acts.
- Quarks (noun): Elementary particles that are the fundamental building blocks of matter.
- Gluons (noun): Elementary particles that mediate the strong force between quarksbinding them together within protons and neutrons.
- Antimatter (noun): Matter composed of antiparticleswhich have the same mass as particles of ordinary matter but opposite charges and other properties.
