Story perspectives

Scientists Discover Proton Fluctuations, Hinting at Critical Point

10/11/2025

Summary

Story summary

Scientists at the STAR Detector in the United States observed proton-number fluctuations in high-energy gold-gold collisions, suggesting a potential critical point.
The findings show non-monotonic fluctuations across collision energies, indicating a change in behavior with energy.
Future experiments, including at the FAIR accelerator, will refine these results and study the transition to quark-gluon plasma.
The results are detailed in Physical Review Letters.

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Story summary

Scientists at the STAR Detector in the United States observed proton-number fluctuations in high-energy gold-gold collisions, suggesting a potential critical point.
The findings show non-monotonic fluctuations across collision energies, indicating a change in behavior with energy.
Future experiments, including at the FAIR accelerator, will refine these results and study the transition to quark-gluon plasma.
The results are detailed in Physical Review Letters.