Scientists have recreated the most extreme state of matter on Earth

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory have discovered a new way to measure a unique type of plasma. Its study will not only enable more fusion experiments, but will also improve people's general knowledge of various processes in the Universe.
Plasma makes up 99% of the visible Universe and consists of free-floating electrons and atomic nuclei or ions. HED plasma is so dense that it can be virtually solid, unlike the gaseous state of tokamak plasma. These are completely new conditions that physicists are eager to explore.

Scientists generated HED plasma by exposing thin strips of titanium foil with an ultra-high-intensity laser at the Advanced Lasers and Extreme Photonics Laboratory at Colorado State University. They then used state-of-the-art programs to analyze the high-resolution spectral data that X-ray imaging captured from a plasma that appeared for only a trillionth of a second.

The study revealed key aspects of the plasma that were not previously known. For example, the analysis showed that the temperatures of the ions and electrons were not equivalent. The ions were significantly cooler, although many expected a different result.

"It turned out that some of the assumptions people were making didn't match the data we were seeing," say experts at Princeton's Plasma Physics Laboratory. They will continue to study exotic high energy-density laser plasma at other facilities. It's likely we'll learn more about it in the future.