At a Glance
- Physicists have achieved a long-sought breakthrough by connecting two distinct models of atomic nuclei: one describing low-energy conditions with protons and neutrons and another focused on high-energy behavior with quarks and gluons.
- This new unified approach offers a comprehensive view of atomic nuclei structure, bridging the gap that has existed for nearly 100 years since the discovery of quarks.
- The researchers utilized data from high-energy collisions, such as those from the LHC, and enhanced parton distribution functions (PDFs) by considering nucleon pairs to accurately represent atomic nuclei’s behavior.
- Their findings confirmed that proton-neutron pairs are the most common correlations in atomic nuclei, especially in heavier elements like gold and lead, aligning closely with experimental data.
- This model simplifies the theoretical framework of nuclear physics, paving the way for further research and a deeper understanding of nuclear structure.
For nearly 100 years, scientists have understood that atomic nuclei comprise protons and neutrons, composed of smaller particles called quarks. Despite the discovery of quarks and their bonding through gluons, no one could explain how these particles could recreate the behavior of atomic nuclei in low-energy conditions—until now. A team of international physicists has finally bridged this gap, offering new insights into the structure of atomic nuclei. Their findings were published in Physical Review Letters.
Historically, two different models have been used to explain atomic nuclei: one that works at low energies, focusing on protons and neutrons, and another that applies at high energies, describing the nuclei in terms of quarks and gluons. However, these two models were only partially connected. The breakthrough by scientists from the Nuclear Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IFJ PAN) brings these worlds together, offering a unified approach to understanding how nuclei behave at low and high energies.
In this research, the scientists combined data from high-energy collisions, including those from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, to better understand the partonic structure of atomic nuclei. Parton distribution functions (PDFs), which map the distribution of quarks and gluons inside protons and neutrons, were used to describe the high-energy behavior of atomic nuclei. The researchers enhanced these PDFs by incorporating the concept of nucleon pairs (proton-neutron, proton-proton, and neutron-neutron) and applied this to 18 different atomic nuclei. Their new model provided a more accurate representation of how particles behave during high- and low-energy collisions.
The team’s results confirmed that the most common correlated pairs in atomic nuclei are proton-neutron pairs, particularly in heavier elements like gold and lead. The new model better matched experimental data than previous methods and simplified the theoretical framework, making it easier for future research to focus on specific atomic nuclei. This research opens up new possibilities for studying nuclear structure, bringing together previously separate aspects of nuclear physics.
References
- Polish Academy of Sciences. (2024, October 15). First coherent picture of an atomic nucleus made of quarks and gluons. Phys.Org; Polish Academy of Sciences. https://phys.org/news/2024-10-coherent-picture-atomic-nucleus-quarks.html
- Denniston, A. W., Ježo, T., Kusina, A., Derakhshanian, N., Duwentäster, P., Hen, O., Keppel, C., Klasen, M., Kovařík, K., Morfín, J. G., Muzakka, K. F., Olness, F. I., Piasetzky, E., Risse, P., Ruiz, R., Schienbein, I., & Yu., J. Y. (2024). Modification of quark-gluon distributions in nuclei by correlated nucleon pairs. Physical Review Letters, 133(15), 152502. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.133.152502
