Charged Particle Interaction Helps Physicists Simulate Formation of Elements Within Stars

Predicting how nucleons combine to form larger compound nuclei is key to understanding how elements are formed within stars. Researchers established the foundation for computing the interactions between nucleons when the particles are electrically charged.

Understanding Charge Particle Interaction

Since it is very difficult to experimentally quantify the essential nuclear interactions, physicists simulate these systems using numerical lattices in the new study titled "Charged-Particle Bound States in Periodic Boxes." Scientists can determine the characteristics of a nucleus formed from these particles by computing the parameters of the finite lattice, which is effectively an imaginary box around a group of nucleons in these numerical simulations.

However, there hasn't been a method for these models to anticipate the characteristics that control low-energy reactions involving charged clusters made up of many protons. This is significant because, among other things, these low-energy processes are essential to producing elements in stars.

The "strong nuclear force" is what holds protons and neutrons together in atomic nuclei, but the electromagnetic repulsion between protons is crucial to the general dynamics and structure of the nucleus, per Sebastian König, assistant professor of physics at NC State and corresponding author of the research.

He added that this force is especially intense at the lowest energies, where many significant processes occur that synthesize the elements that constitute the universe we know. However, the theory finds it difficult to predict these interactions.

König and associates decided to operate in reverse. Their method looks at the compound nuclei, which are the end product of reactions within a lattice, and then goes backward to find the characteristics and energy involved in the process.

They examined the structure of the final product instead of the reactions themselves. Variations in the "box" size will also affect the simulations and outcomes. Using those data, they were able to derive parameters that govern the interaction between the charged particles.

"The derivation of the formula was unexpectedly challenging," Hang Yu, a graduate student at NC State and first author of the work, "but the final result is quite beautiful and has important applications."

Dusty Quasars Can Hide Supermassive Black Holes

Another study revealed that dust clouds can mask quasars in galaxies undergoing intense star formation episodes, a phenomenon known as "starburst galaxies."

The research found that quasars, which are big objects enveloped in massive amounts of gas and dust, are more likely to be found in starburst galaxies-galaxies that produce a large number of stars annually-than in stars like our sun, which is 100 or even 200 stars. Under these conditions, the galaxy's concentrated enormous gas and dust-forming stars prevent the quasar's light from escaping.

The research may contribute to our understanding of how galaxies form. More research is necessary to validate the findings and link the dusty quasars to starburst galaxies.

Check out more news and information on Space in Science Time.