University of Edinburgh: Scientists mirror the conditions inside stars
- Apr 29
- 1 min read
An international research team has achieved an important milestone for astrophysics. At GSI/FAIR (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research) in Germany, scientists were able to measure nuclear reactions at extremely low energies for the first time, mirroring the conditions inside stars.
In the extreme environments of stars, nuclear processes often occur at very low energies. These so-called ‘sub-MeV energies’ (below one megaelectronvolt) are difficult to replicate in the laboratory because the probability of atomic nuclei interacting at such low speeds is exceptionally small. In the FAIR storage ring CRYRING@ESR, researchers were able to lower the energy available for the nuclear reaction in the center-of-mass frame of the two particles down to 403 kiloelectronvolts. This marks a new record: it is the lowest energy at which a nuclear reaction has ever been measured in a heavy-ion storage ring.
This novel experimental approach lays the foundation for decoding the formation of elements in the universe with even greater precision in the future.
