By mimicking early universe states, researchers have recreated the first molecules in the universe for the first time.
The findings shaking an understanding of the origins of stars in the early universe, and “seeking a reevaluation of helium chemistry in the early universe,” the researchers wrote in a new study published July 24th in Astronomy and Astrophysics.
The first star of the universe
Shortly after the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago, the universe was affected by very high temperatures. However, after a few seconds the temperature dropped sufficiently enough to form hydrogen and helium as the first element. Hundreds of thousands of years after these elements were formed, temperatures were cool enough for the atoms to bond with electrons in various configurations to forge molecules.
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Researchers say helium hydride ions (or Heh+) have become their first molecule. Ions are required to form molecular hydrogen. This is the most abundant molecule in the universe today.
Both the halidrid ions and molecular hydrogen were important in the development of the first star in hundreds of millions of years, the researchers said.
For the protostal to begin fusion, the process allows the stars to create their own energy – the atoms and molecules within it must collide with each other to release heat. This process has little effect at temperatures below 18,000 degrees Fahrenheit (10,000 degrees Celsius).
Related: The first molecule in the universe was detected in the universe for the first time
However, helium hydride ions are particularly good at continuing the process, even at cool temperatures, and are considered to be a potentially essential factor for star formation in the early universe.
Therefore, the amount of helium hydride ions in the universe could have a major impact on the rate and effectiveness of early star formation, the researchers said in a statement.
Much more important than previously expected
In a new study, researchers replicated the initial helium hydride reaction by storing the ions at -449 degrees (minus 267 degrees Celsius) for up to 60 seconds, reproducing the initial helium hydride reaction, cooling them before colliding with heavy hydrogen. Researchers studied how collisions changed in response to the temperature of the star, as well as those that initiate the fusion of stars.
They find that the reaction rate between these particles does not slow down at low temperatures, which contradicts the old assumption.
“Previous theories predicted a significant reduction in response probability at low temperatures, but could not be tested either with experiments or new theoretical calculations,” said Holger Kreckel, a study studying nuclear physics at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Germany, in a statement.
This new discovery about how helium hydride ions work challenges the way physicists think stars were formed in the early universe. The reaction between ions and other atoms “appeared to be much more important to early universe chemistry than previously assumed,” Kreckel said.
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