In a historic feat, researchers at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) have been able to convert lead into gold, though briefly, through high-energy collisions of lead nuclei. This remarkable experiment, part of the ALICE project, makes a medieval alchemist’s fantasy a reality through the application of contemporary physics.
The results, which were released in Physical Review Journals, shed light on the basic forces and conditions that existed in the early moments following the Big Bang. CERN’s ALICE collaboration measures the extent to which lead nuclei, under high-energy collisions, produce gold nuclei, a major milestone in the study of nuclear reactions.
Historically, the alchemical conversion of lead to gold was a medieval pursuit. This pursuit, known as chrysopoeia, was founded on the similar densities of lead and the valuable gold, which was prized due to its scarcity and aesthetic appeal. It wasn’t until later, however, that it was understood that lead and gold are two distinct chemical elements, and chemical reactions could not change one into the other.
Now with the discovery of nuclear physics during the 20th century, it was clear that heavy elements could be both naturally transformed through radioactive decay as well as artificially through bombardment by neutrons or protons. Although artificial gold has already been created by this process before, the ALICE collaboration recently unveiled a novel process through the near-miss collisions of lead nuclei at the LHC and is a monumental achievement in this field.
