Scientists at CERN have successfully transformed lead into gold!
CERN'S ALICE experiment has achieved what medieval alchemists only dreamed of by detecting the conversion of lead into gold during high-energy collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).
In near-miss encounters between speeding lead nuclei, the intense electromagnetic fields are strong enough to knock out protons-a process known as electromagnetic dissociation.
This unique mechanism removes three protons from a lead nucleus, briefly forming a gold nucleus. Although the process produces gold only in microscopic amounts (with gold nuclei existing for just a tiny fraction of a second), it has been meticulously measured using ALICE's zero degree calorimeters, which count interactions associated with the emergence of different nuclei.
While the total mass of gold created remains astronomically small-about 29 picograms during Run 2-the breakthrough is a significant milestone in experimental physics. It not only confirms the theoretical models of nuclear transmutation via electromagnetic interactions but also enhances our understanding of beam losses in high-energy colliders. With upgrades fueling higher luminosities in Run 3, the ALICE collaboration's findings underline how modern particle physics continues to push the boundaries of what's possible, transforming ancient dreams into fleeting, yet scientifically invaluable, realities.