The chaotic manner in which the fundamental building blocks of the universe operate has baffled scientists who try to reconcile this with the ordered systems found at the macroscopic level. New findings discs in plasma particle movements suggest a possible method through which highly organized systems can emerge spontaneously from random motion.
Nathan Kugland, lead author of a paper published in the September issue of Nature Physics, explored this problem by examining the movement of particles in a gaseous plasma comprised mostly of ions. Electromagnetic fields that were passed through the plasma were found to organize the system of counter-streaming ions and shape the movements of the particles.
The results of the experiment was surprising, since it was expected that the particles were moving fast enough to flow past each other, free of interference. The finding suggests plasma may have been naturally organized in the formation of stars: electromagnetic forces working alongside gravity to form the first solar systems of the universe.
Experiments that try to emulate the forces behind astrophysical objects through particle microphysics help to answer questions that would otherwise be too difficult to measure directly. International efforts across many different laboratories joined together in collaboration, and American, European, and Japanese funding helped to build the OMEGA EP laser used for the experiment at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
