The vacuum is not empty<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
In classical thinking, a vacuum is just a blank. In quantum physics<\/a>, it is more like a simmering background, where particle and antiparticle pairs can briefly appear and disappear, allowed by the uncertainty principle. Physicist Dmitri Kharzeev<\/a> put it simply, \u201cThe vacuum in quantum theory is not empty space.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this case, the story runs through quantum chromodynamics (QCD)<\/a>, the theory of the strong force. The Nature<\/em> paper describes the vacuum as containing virtual quark and antiquark pairs, including strange quark pairs expected to be spin-correlated, and it notes that RHIC accelerates protons to 99.996% of the speed of light<\/a> to \u201cexcite\u201d that vacuum in collisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Quarks do not show up as free particles in nature, so STAR cannot just \u201csee\u201d a strange quark and call it a day. Instead, the experiment tracks composite particles that contain strange quarks, especially lambda hyperons and antilambdas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lambdas also come with a built-in decoder ring. The Nature<\/em> paper notes that a lambda lives about 10\u207b\u00b9\u2070 seconds and that its spin polarization can be reconstructed from how it decays, while Scientific American<\/em> describes it traveling only a few centimeters (around an inch) before it falls apart into particles the detector can track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The STAR team sifted through millions of proton-proton collision events and looked for lambda and antilambda pairs that emerged close together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In the Nature<\/em> analysis, those short-range pairs show a positive spin correlation, quantified as a relative polarization (a measure of how strongly the spins are linked) of 0.181, or about 18.1%, with a 4.4 standard deviation significance compared with zero.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Crucially, the correlation disappears when the pair is widely separated in angle. The authors interpret that pattern as consistent with decoherence<\/a>, meaning the original quantum linkage does not survive once the particles get too far apart in the collision noise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You may also see the Brookhaven news release<\/a> summarize the effect more dramatically, saying nearby lambdas and antilambdas are \u201c100% spin aligned.\u201d The technical result is the 18% relative polarization reported in Nature<\/em>, but the headline wording is pointing to the same core idea \u2013 the alignment is strongest exactly where the vacuum-origin picture predicts it should be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why should anyone outside particle physics care about a spin correlation in an exotic particle? Because it connects to a surprisingly everyday question, why do protons weigh what they do. Scientific American<\/em> notes that the quarks themselves account for only a tiny fraction of a proton\u2019s mass, while \u201cthe other 99% is thought to arise from interactions\u201d involving the strong force and the QCD vacuum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That is where STAR\u2019s approach is intriguing. Brookhaven physicist Zhoudunming (Kong) Tu calls it \u201ca unique window into the quantum vacuum,\u201d and the lab argues the same quantum-to-classical transition at play here matters for quantum information science<\/a> and future quantum-based technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n High-energy collisions can produce quark and antiquark pairs in more than one way. The Nature<\/em> paper explicitly notes a competing pathway, gluon splitting into a quark pair, and it uses comparisons and baselines to show that the observed correlation is specific to short-range lambda and antilambda pairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even with a strong statistical signal, this kind of work lives or dies by cross-checks. The Brookhaven team has already framed a next step, using future measurements to send quark and antiquark pairs through different nuclear \u201cenvironments\u201d and see how the correlations evolve, rather than relying on one collision system forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is fundamental physics, but it is not cut off from the world of sustainability. Brookhaven\u2019s own Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) <\/a>project update argues that deeper knowledge of matter and forces has produced broader benefits, including advances in energy systems and electronics<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is also a tangible, nuts-and-bolts sustainability angle in how this research infrastructure evolves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The EIC plan is to reuse RHIC\u2019s 2.4-mile-circumference tunnel and more than 1,000 superconducting magnets, and Brookhaven says reusing RHIC\u2019s most complex components reduces cost compared with starting from scratch. RHIC itself is described as a $2 billion federal investment, while the EIC project is projected at about $2.8 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n RHIC<\/a> shut down on February 6, 2026, and the EIC is planned to begin electron-hadron collisions around 2035, meaning the same site will keep asking \u201cwhere does matter come from\u201d with sharper tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If some of that work eventually helps build better sensors for Earth monitoring or makes energy-hungry computing more efficient, that is when a discovery like this can show up on something as ordinary as the electric bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However you picture \u201cempty space,\u201d this result makes it harder to treat the vacuum as a passive backdrop. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The study was published in Nature<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For decades, physicists have argued that \u201cempty\u201d space is not truly empty. Now a team working with the STAR detector … <\/p>\nWhy lambdas are the perfect messengers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The signal hidden in a million collisions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Scientists](\"https:\/\/www.ecoticias.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/star-detector-brookhaven-quantum-vacuum-particle-discovery.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
A new window on where mass comes from<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What scientists still need to rule out<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Why this matters to an environmental newsroom<\/h2>\n\n\n\n