DOE OSTI · 3011978
Observation of deuteron and antideuteron formation from resonance-decay nucleons
Abstract
High-energy hadronic collisions generate environments characterized by temperatures above 100 MeV (refs.), about 100,000 times hotter than the centre of the Sun. At present, it is therefore unclear how light (anti)nuclei with mass number A of a few units, such as the deuteron, 3 He or 4 He, each bound by only a few MeV, can emerge from these collisions. Here, the ALICE Collaboration reports that deuteron–pion momentum correlations in proton–proton (pp) collisions provide model-independent evidence that about 90% of the observed (anti)deuterons are produced in nuclear reactions following the decay of short-lived resonances, such as the Δ(1232). These findings, obtained by the ALICE Collaboration at the Large Hadron Collider, resolve a gap in our understanding of nucleosynthesis in ultrarelativistic hadronic collisions. Apart from offering insights on how (anti)nuclei are formed in hadronic collisions, the results can be used in the modelling of the production of light and heavy nuclei in cosmic rays and dark-matter decays.
Explore related subjects
Keep this discovery
Acharya, S. [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Bari (Italy); ALICE Collaboration. et al.] (ORCID:0000000292135329), Agarwal, A., Aglieri Rinella, G. (ORCID:0000000296113696), Aglietta, L. (ORCID:0009000307636802), Agnello, M. (ORCID:0000000207605075), Agrawal, N. (ORCID:0000000303489836), Ahammed, Z. (ORCID:0000000152417412), Ahmad, S. (ORCID:0000000304975705), Ahn, S. U. (ORCID:000000018847489X), Ahuja, I. (ORCID:0000000244171392), Akindinov, A. (ORCID:0000000273883022), Akishina, V., Al-Turany, M. (ORCID:0000000280714497), Aleksandrov, D. (ORCID:0000000297197035), Alessandro, B. (ORCID:0000000196804940), Alfanda, H. M. (ORCID:0000000256592119), Alfaro Molina, R. (ORCID:0000000247137069), Ali, B. (ORCID:0000000208777979), Alici, A. (ORCID:0000000336184617), Alizadehvandchali, N. (ORCID:0009000073651064), Alkin, A. (ORCID:0000000222055761), Alme, J. (ORCID:0000000301770536), Alocco, G. (ORCID:0000000189109173), Alt, T. (ORCID:0009000548625370), Altamura, A. R. (ORCID:0000000180485500), Altsybeev, I. (ORCID:0000000280797026), Alvarado, J. R. (ORCID:0000000250381337), Anaam, M. N. (ORCID:0000000261804243), Andrei, C. (ORCID:0000000185350680), Andreou, N. (ORCID:0009000974576866), Andronic, A. (ORCID:0000000223726117), Andronov, E. (ORCID:0000000304379292), Anguelov, V. (ORCID:0009000602362680), Antinori, F. (ORCID:0000000273668891), Antonioli, P. (ORCID:0000000175163726), Apadula, N. (ORCID:0000000254786120), Appelshäuser, H. (ORCID:0000000306147671), Arata, C. (ORCID:0009000219907289), Arcelli, S. (ORCID:0000000163679215), Arnaldi, R. (ORCID:0000000166989577), Arneiro, J. G. M. C. A. (ORCID:0000000251942079), Arsene, I. C. (ORCID:0000000323169565), Arslandok, M. (ORCID:0000000238888303), Augustinus, A. (ORCID:0009000854606805), Averbeck, R. (ORCID:0000000342774963), Averyanov, D. (ORCID:0000000200274648), Azmi, M. D. (ORCID:0000000225016856), Baba, H., Badalà, A. (ORCID:0000000205694828), Bae, J. (ORCID:0009000848068019), Bae, Y. (ORCID:0009000580796882), Baek, Y. W. (ORCID:0000000243434883), Bai, X. (ORCID:000900099085079X), Bailhache, R. (ORCID:0000000179874592), Bailung, Y. (ORCID:0000000311720225), Bala, R. (ORCID:0000000241162861), Baldisseri, A. (ORCID:000000026186289X), Balis, B. (ORCID:0000000230824209), Bangalia, S., Banoo, Z. (ORCID:0000000271783001), Barbasova, V. (ORCID:000900057211970X), Barile, F. (ORCID:0000000320881290), Barioglio, L. (ORCID:0000000273289154), Barlou, M. (ORCID:0000000330909111), Barman, B. (ORCID:0000000302519001), Barnaföldi, G. G. (ORCID:0000000192236480), Barnby, L. S. (ORCID:0000000173579904), Barreau, E. (ORCID:0009000315330782), Barret, V. (ORCID:0000000306119283), Barreto, L. (ORCID:0000000264540052), Barth, K. (ORCID:0000000176331189), Bartsch, E. (ORCID:0009000679284203), Bastid, N. (ORCID:0000000269058345), Basu, S. (ORCID:0000000306878124), Batigne, G. (ORCID:0000000186386300), Battistini, D. (ORCID:0009000001993372), Batyunya, B. (ORCID:0009000929746985), Bauri, D., Bazo Alba, J. L. (ORCID:0000000191489101), Bearden, I. G. (ORCID:0000000327843094), Becht, P. (ORCID:0000000279083288), Behera, D. (ORCID:0000000225997957), Belikov, I. (ORCID:0009000559228936), Bell Hechavarria, A. D. C. (ORCID:0000000204426549), Bellini, F. (ORCID:0000000334984661), Bellwied, R. (ORCID:0000000231560188), Belokurova, S. (ORCID:0000000248623384), Beltran, L. G. E. (ORCID:0000000294136069), Beltran, Y. A. V. (ORCID:0009000282124789), Bencedi, G. (ORCID:0000000290405292), Bensaoula, A., Beole, S. (ORCID:0000000346738038), Berdnikov, Y. (ORCID:0000000303095917), Berdnikova, A. (ORCID:0000000337057898), Bergmann, L. (ORCID:0009000455112496), Bernardinis, L., Betev, L. (ORCID:0000000213731844), Bhaduri, P. P. (ORCID:0000000178833190), Bhalla, T., Bhasin, A. (ORCID:0000000236878179). 2025-12-10. Observation of deuteron and antideuteron formation from resonance-decay nucleons. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09775-5
Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.
Discover connections
Connections use source metadata and explicit phrase matches, not verified experimental comparisons.