1. The big bang and the micro bang
A visualization of a high-energy
collision between two lead
nuclei in a "micro bang"
leading to the formation of
a quarkgluon plasma. This
new state of matter survives in
the laboratory for
4 x 1023
seconds before it explodes.
The quarkgluon plasma
in the real big bang lasted
for much longer about 40
microseconds. The other significant
difference is that almost equal
amounts of matter and antimatter were
created in the big bang (corresponding
to a baryon ratio of
1010), whereas
the quarkgluon plasmas
produced in the laboratory
contain more matter than
antimatter (corresponding to
a baryon ratio of 0.1). The lead
nuclei appear flattened because they
are subject to Lorentz contraction due
to their relativistic velocities. Experiments
record the thousands of
particles (shown as arrows) that
are produced when energy is
converted into matter in these
collisions.