Scientists Recreate First Chemical Reaction After Big Bang, Rewriting Early Universe Story
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📰 The quick summary: Scientists have successfully recreated the universe’s first chemical reaction involving helium hydride ions, revealing that these reactions remain effective at low temperatures and play a more significant role in early star formation than previously thought.
📈 One key stat: The reaction rate of helium hydride ions with deuterium remains almost constant at low temperatures, contrary to earlier predictions that suggested a significant decrease in reaction probability.
💬 One key quote: Previous theories predicted a significant decrease in the reaction probability at low temperatures, but we were unable to verify this in either the experiment or new theoretical calculations by our colleagues.
1️⃣ The big picture: Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics have recreated key chemical reactions from the early universe for the first time. They studied the interaction between helium hydride ions (HeH+), believed to be the universe’s first molecule, and deuterium under conditions similar to those shortly after the Big Bang. This groundbreaking experiment, conducted in the unique Cryogenic Storage Ring, clarifies how early molecular formations influenced star development 13.8 billion years ago. The findings contradict previous theories about reaction rates at extremely low temperatures, suggesting these primordial chemical processes were much more important for early cosmic evolution than scientists previously understood.
2️⃣ Why is this good news: This discovery corrects a long-standing error in astrophysical models about how the universe’s first molecules behaved. Understanding the true reaction pathways of helium hydride ions provides crucial insights into the cooling mechanisms that allowed the first stars to form. The research team successfully recreated space-like conditions in a laboratory setting, giving us a clearer picture of primordial chemistry that influenced the universe’s evolution. These findings help solve the mystery of how matter first gathered to create stars during the cosmic dark age, bridging a critical gap in our understanding of how the universe transitioned from darkness to light.
3️⃣ What’s next: Scientists will need to update models of early universe chemistry incorporating these new findings about helium hydride ion reaction rates. Future research may explore how these revised reaction pathways affected the timeline and efficiency of first-generation star formation. Researchers can now investigate other primordial molecular processes using the proven experimental approach at the Cryogenic Storage Ring.
Read the full story here: SciTechDaily – Solving a 13-Billion-Year-Old Mystery: Scientists Recreate the Universe’s First Chemical Reaction
