The strongest material in the universe could be the mysterious "nuclear pasta": space: Nature

Sep 17, 2018 10:09 pm EDT

Nuclear pasta does not seem too intimidating, but the weird stuff that is believed to come from dead stars is much stronger than one might think.

Specifically, scientists suggest that the so-called nuclear pasta is the most powerful material known in the entire universe.

The ultra-strong "nuclear pulp"

In a study accepted for publication in the journal Letters of physical examination, a team of researchers discussed the incredible strength of the cosmic substance. Nuclear pulps would be 10 billion times more resistant than steel.

"It's a crazy number, but the material is also very dense, which helps to make it stronger," says Charles Horowitz, co-author of the study and physicist at the University of Toronto. Indiana to Bloomington.

The mysterious substance is thought to be 100 billion times denser than water, making laboratory study impossible. Scientists have used computer simulations to stretch nuclear pulp sheets and analyze the behavior of the material.

They found that the force needed to deform and break nuclear pulps is much greater than the force needed to do the same with any other known material.

While the The outer crust of a neutron star has previously proven to be more resistant than steel, it is the first time that the inner crust has been observed in depth.

How the forms of "nuclear pulp"

Neutron stars are formed when a dying star explodes. Rich in neutrons as its name indicates, these stellar remains are squeezed by extremely powerful gravitational forces.

As we get closer to the center of the neutron star, the atomic nuclei are tightened and narrowed until we create strange clusters of nuclear matter. It is believed that the material is deformed and shaped similarly to different types of pasta such as gnocchi, noodles and the like.

Proving the existence of pasta

Nuclear pasta has not yet been observed in the real world, but this new study offers hope to scientists on the lookout.

The only way to look closely at a neutron star is to use the gravitational waves that it emits, which only happens when the star's crust has pieces called " mountains ". The bigger the mountain, the more likely it is to see more powerful waves. In the case of neutron stars, the big mountains are only a few centimeters high.

Simulations of the study suggest that nuclear pulps are sufficiently strong to withstand mountains of several tens of centimeters, which is enough to produce waves that the gravimetric wave observatory or LIGO advanced laser interferometer could detect.