Physicists at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) have made a significant breakthrough by observing the directed flow of hypernuclei—rare nuclei that contain at least one hyperon—during particle collisions. Hyperons, notable for possessing a “strange” quark, are thought to be prevalent in neutron stars, dense cosmic entities formed from the remnants of massive stars. The research utilizes the STAR detector at RHIC to analyze flow patterns from gold nucleus collisions, aiming to understand hyperon-nucleon interactions that are crucial for comprehending neutron star properties.
In their study, scientists found that hypernuclei exhibit flow patterns similar to regular atomic nuclei, suggesting that they may form through the same coalescence mechanism driven by nucleon interactions. This research provides quantitative data to refine theoretical models of hyperon-nucleon interactions, which remain largely unexplored. The findings, published in Physical Review Letters, signal a new avenue for studying how hypernuclei behave under extreme conditions akin to those in neutron stars, despite laboratory conditions remaining less extreme. The study emphasizes collaboration between experimentalists and theorists to integrate new data into models, enhancing understanding of these exotic celestial objects.
