by The gold that makes up the ring on your ring, the jewelry, and the uranium used as fuel in nuclear power plants are believed to come from the violent conditions created when two ultradense dead stars called neutron stars collide.
This collision between neutron stars generates ripples in space-time called gravitational waves, bursts of high-energy radiation called gamma-ray bursts, and a flash of light called a cerenova that can be detected here on Earth. Signatures from such an event were detected on August 17, 2017.
Now, a team of scientists, including researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics and the University of Potsdam, used an advanced software tool to analyze the signatures of this kilonova explosion, incorporating data from radio and other X-ray observations. neutron stars, nuclear physics calculations and results from collision experiments carried out in particle accelerators here on Earth.
The effort could help better understand the exotic and turbulent environments generated when dead, ultra-dense stars collide to create the only sites scientists know can further forge elements heavier than iron.
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“Our new method will help to analyze the properties of matter at extreme densities. It will also allow us to better understand the expansion of the universe and the extent to which heavy elements are formed during neutron star mergers,” team member and Max Planck Institute do Gravitational Physics scientist Tim Dietrich said in a statement.
Neutron star bursts as true cosmic laboratories
Neutron stars are born when massive stars reach the end of their fuel for nuclear fusion at their cores. This causes that core to rapidly collapse as the outer layers of the star slide away, leaving behind a body with one to two times the mass of the sun pushing into a width equivalent to a city here on earth, about 12 miles. (20 kilometers).
As a result, the material that makes up a neutron star is so dense that a lump the size of a sugar cube, when brought to Earth, would weigh as much as 3,000 Empire State Buildings or the human race. length. This dead star material is also unusual because it is rich in neutrons, particles that are normally locked in atomic nuclei with protons.
When neutron stars collide, sprays of this neutron-rich material are sent into space. This creates an environment packed with free neutrons that can be rapidly captured by other atoms, creating very heavy elements beyond the boundaries of the periodic table – what scientists call the “rapid capture process” or “r- process.”
These elements are unstable and decay into stable heavy elements such as gold and uranium. This decay is accompanied by the emission of electromagnetic radiation – the light that forms the kilonova flash.
This means that studying the kilonova that occurs after a neutron star merger is the unique way to study the physical processes that create elements outside of iron, which cannot be created in the fiery cores of even the stars are huge.
To date, only one neutron star merger in a contracting binary system has been recorded in its gravitational waves and electromagnetic emissions.
The event, named GW170817, was caused by colliding neutron stars located 130 million light-years from Earth, which merged and merged, creating signals seen here on Earth in 2017.
The team used their software to create a model of this event consisting of gravitational waves from the last few spirals of these neutron stars around each other before they collided, the gamma-ray burst sent as the collision occurred , and the kilonova emission emitted by the collision. environment around the merger between days and years after it happened.
“By analyzing the data sequentially and simultaneously, we get more accurate results,” said team member and Utrecht University scientist Peter TH Pang.
This enabled the team to precisely detail what happened during this neutron star merger that occurred over 130 million years ago and would have enriched its environment with gold, uranium, and other heavy elements.
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The model developed by the team should be suitable for use in detailing the events that occur when neutron stars collide with each other.
This investigation will be strengthened as the US-based Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), the Italy-based Virgo, and the Japan-based Kamioka Gravitational Wave Detector (KAGRA) will receive upgrades before future observation runs that “hear” even more ripples in space-time sent by neutron star collisions.
