Editorial use only. This image may not be used to state or imply endorsement by CERN of any product, activity or service Quark-gluon plasma. Computer

---

Editorial use only. This image may not be used to state or imply endorsement by CERN of any product, activity or service Quark-gluon plasma. Computer model of a quark- gluon plasma. The red, green and blue spheres are quarks, which are normally bound together by gluons to form protons and neutrons (white). A quark-gluon plasma, in which the particles are not bound together, has not existed since just after the formation of the universe in the Big Bang. This plasma was created by colliding lead nuclei to densities 20 times that of nuclear matter and a temperature 100, 000 times that at the Sun's centre. Study of such plasma will allow a greater understanding of how matter was formed in the early universe. This work was done at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland.

---

Size: 5315px × 3951px
Photo credit: © CERN/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: atom, atomic, cern, chemical, chemistry, cosmology, gluon, particle, particles, physics, plasma, quark, quark-gluon, structure, subatomic