The age-old dream of every medieval alchemist—transforming lead into gold—has taken a remarkable step towards reality, thanks to groundbreaking experiments at CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) near Geneva. Physicists at this multibillion-euro facility have successfully managed to transmute lead into gold through high-speed ion collisions, demonstrating that with enough investment in energy, technology, and resources, it is possible to challenge the natural order of elements.
This astonishing feat was not achieved through mystical spells or dubious potions. Instead, scientists directed beams of lead ions towards each other, traveling at nearly the speed of light. In a fascinating twist of physics, these ions occasionally pass close enough to one another that their electromagnetic fields interact. In these rare and fleeting moments of subatomic wonder, a lead nucleus can be disturbed enough to eject three protons, effectively transforming itself into gold.
The ALICE experiment, a specialized apparatus at CERN designed to analyze nuclear interactions, played a crucial role in identifying these atomic transformations. Between 2015 and 2018, researchers recorded an impressive 86 billion gold atoms emerging from lead-on-lead collisions, as reported by the journal Nature. While this number sounds significant, it translates to a mere 29 trillionths of a gram—an astonishingly tiny amount of gold.
To put this into perspective, if one were to conduct the experiment 300 million times and gather all the resulting gold atoms, the total would amount to a market value of approximately one dollar. Unfortunately, most of these newly formed gold atoms are ephemeral, quickly disintegrating or smashing into other particles before they can be observed or appreciated.
On May 7, a paper detailing these findings was published in the Physical Review Journals, highlighting that the transmutation of lead into gold is indeed a dream come true for alchemists, now realized at the LHC. ALICE member Uliana Dmitrieva noted that these observations mark the first systematic detection and analysis of gold production at the LHC. While a previous CERN accelerator achieved similar results two decades ago, the current experiments were conducted at a higher energy level, leading to a greater probability of gold formation and clearer data.
Despite these exciting findings, physicist Jiangyong Jia from Stony Brook University cautions against the idea of transforming CERN into a gold mint. He emphasizes that understanding these transmutation processes is vital for enhancing beam quality and stability, reminding us that the creation of gold is merely an incidental byproduct rather than a lucrative venture.
In conclusion, while science has indeed proven that it can turn lead into gold, it requires an immense infrastructure—like the 27 kilometers of underground tunnels at CERN—and a budget comparable to that of a nation. This journey into the atomic realm reveals that while the dreams of ancient alchemists have some basis in reality, the returns on such investments are measured in atomic particles rather than wealth. The allure of transmutation is now backed by science, showcasing the remarkable achievements that can be made in the pursuit of knowledge.
