Big atoms demand big energy to construct. A new model of quantum interactions now suggests some of the lightest particles in the Universe might play a critical role in how at least some heavy elements form.
Physicists in the US have shown how subatomic ‘ghost’ particles known as neutrinos could force atomic nuclei into becoming new elements.
Not only would this be an entirely different method for building elements heavier than iron, it could also describe a long-hypothesized ‘in-between’ path that sits on the border between two known processes, nuclear fusion and nucleosynthesis.
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