Researchers at Eötvös Loránd University are using advanced particle accelerators to explore the improvement of early Universes quark matter into ordinary matter. Their innovative techniques and findings contribute substantially to our understanding of fundamental physics and the strong interaction. Credit: SciTechDaily.comTheir efforts have been fixated mapping the “primordial soup” that filled deep space in the first millionth of a second following its inception.Physicists from Eötvös Loránd University have actually been investigating the components of the atomic nucleus using the three most sophisticated particle accelerators internationally. Their research intends to check out the “prehistoric soup” that existed in the Universe during the preliminary split seconds after its production. Interestingly, their findings suggest that the motion of observed particles bears resemblance to the search for prey of marine predators, the patterns of climate modification, and the variations of the stock market.In the immediate consequences of the Big Bang, temperatures were so extreme that atomic nuclei could not exists, nor might nucleons, their structure blocks. In this very first circumstances, the universe was filled with a “primitive soup” of quarks and gluons.As the universe cooled, this medium underwent a “freeze-out”, leading to the development of particles we understand today, such as protons and neutrons. This phenomenon is reproduced on a much smaller scale in particle accelerator experiments, where accidents in between 2 nuclei create small beads of quark matter. These beads ultimately then transition into the normal matter through freeze-out, an improvement known to researchers performing these experiments.Variations in Quark MatterHowever, the properties of quark matter vary due to differences in pressure and temperature that arise from the crash energy in particle accelerators. This variation requires measurements to scan matter in particle accelerators of various energies, the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) in the US, or the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Switzerland.” This aspect is so important that brand-new accelerators are being built all over the world, for example in Germany or Japan, particularly for such experiments. Perhaps the most considerable question is how the shift in between stages takes place: a crucial point might emerge on the phase map,” discusses Máté Csanád, teacher of physics at the Department of Atomic Physics, Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE). A montage of reconstructed tracks from actual collision events and photos of the respective detectors, at the Brookhaven National Laboratory and at CERN. Credit: Montage made by Máté Csanád/ Eötvös Loránd University Original photos for the montage: STAR és PHENIX: Brookhaven National Laboratory and CMS és NA61: CERNThe long-lasting goal of the research study is to deepen our understanding of the strong interaction that governs the interactions in quark matter and in atomic nuclei. Our current level of understanding in this location can be compared to mankinds grasp of electrical energy during the periods of Volta, Maxwell or Faraday. While they had a concept of the basic equations, it took a substantial amount of speculative and theoretical work to establish innovations that have profoundly transformed everyday life, varying from the light bulb to televisions, telephones, computer systems, and the internet. Likewise, our understanding of the strong interaction is still embryonic, making research to explore and map it vitally important.Innovations in FemtoscopyResearchers from ELTE have actually been associated with experiments at each of these accelerators discussed above, and their work over the past few years has led to a comprehensive picture of the geometry of quark matter. They accomplished this through the application of femtoscopy methods. This technique makes use of the correlations that develop from the non-classical, quantum-like wave nature of the particles produced, which in the end reveals the femtometer-scale structure of the medium, the particle-emitting source.Researchers of the Eötvös University working on the information taking of the STAR experiment at the Brookhaven National Laboratory. Credit: Máté Csanád/ Eötvös Loránd University” In the previous decades, femtoscopy was run on the presumption that quark matter follows a normal distribution, i.e., the Gaussian shape discovered in numerous places in nature,” discusses Márton Nagy, among the groups lead researchers.However, the Hungarian researchers turned to the Lévy procedure, which is also familiar in different clinical disciplines, as a more general structure, and which is a good description of the look for victim by marine predators, stock market processes, and even climate change. A distinct characteristic of these procedures is that at certain minutes they go through huge changes (for example, when a shark searches for food in a new location), and in such cases a Lévy distribution instead of a regular (Gaussian) circulation can occur.Implications and ELTEs RoleThis research holds considerable importance for several reasons. Mostly, among the most studied features of the freeze-out of quark matter, its transformation into traditional (hadronic) matter, is the femtoscopic radius (also called HBT-radius, noting its relation to the well-known Hanbury Brown and Twiss effect in astronomy), which is originated from femtoscopic measurements. However, this scale depends on the presumed geometry of the medium. As Dániel Kincses, a postdoctoral researcher in the group, sums up, “If the Gaussian assumption is not ideal, then the most precise arise from these studies can only be gotten under the Lévy assumption. The worth of the Lévy exponent, which characterizes the Lévy distribution, also may clarify the nature of the phase transition. Therefore, its variation with crash energy offers important insight into the different phases of quark matter.” Researchers from ELTE are actively taking part in 4 experiments: NA61/SHINE at the SPS accelerator, PHENIX and STAR at RHIC, and CMS at the LHC. The NA61/SHINE group of ELTE is led by Yoshikazu Nagai, the CMS group by Gabriella Pásztor; and the RHIC groups by Máté Csanád, who is also coordinating ELTEs femtoscopy research.The groups are making substantial contributions to the success of experiments in numerous capabilities, varying from detector advancement to information acquisition and analysis. They are also engaged in numerous tasks and theoretical research. “What is special about our femtoscopy research study is that it is brought out in four experiments in three particle accelerators– providing us a broad view of the geometry and possible stages of quark matter,” specifies Máté Csanád.Reference: “An unique technique for determining Bose– Einstein correlation functions with Coulomb final-state interaction” by Márton Nagy, Aletta Purzsa, Máté Csanád and Dániel Kincses, 8 November 2023, The European Physical Journal C.DOI: 10.1140/ epjc/s10052 -023 -12161- y.
Scientists at Eötvös Loránd University are using innovative particle accelerators to check out the transformation of early Universes quark matter into ordinary matter. These droplets ultimately then transition into the regular matter through freeze-out, an improvement known to scientists conducting these experiments.Variations in Quark MatterHowever, the residential or commercial properties of quark matter differ due to distinctions in pressure and temperature that result from the collision energy in particle accelerators. Our understanding of the strong interaction is still embryonic, making research study to explore and map it extremely important.Innovations in FemtoscopyResearchers from ELTE have been involved in experiments at each of these accelerators discussed above, and their work over the previous couple of years has actually led to an extensive picture of the geometry of quark matter. Mostly, one of the most studied functions of the freeze-out of quark matter, its change into traditional (hadronic) matter, is the femtoscopic radius (also called HBT-radius, noting its relation to the popular Hanbury Brown and Twiss effect in astronomy), which is obtained from femtoscopic measurements. “What is unique about our femtoscopy research is that it is brought out in 4 experiments in three particle accelerators– giving us a broad view of the geometry and possible phases of quark matter,” specifies Máté Csanád.Reference: “An unique approach for calculating Bose– Einstein correlation functions with Coulomb final-state interaction” by Márton Nagy, Aletta Purzsa, Máté Csanád and Dániel Kincses, 8 November 2023, The European Physical Journal C.DOI: 10.1140/ epjc/s10052 -023 -12161- y.
