Observation of deuteron and antideuteron formation from resonance-decay nucleons

The ALICE collaboration

doi:10.1038/s41586-025-09775-5

Observation of deuteron and antideuteron formation from resonance-decay nucleons

The ALICE collaboration

Sección de Física

National Institute for Nuclear Physics
University of Brescia
Central China Normal University
GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research
University of Science and Technology of China
University of Copenhagen
China National Nuclear Corporation
CERN
Fudan University
Université Clermont Auvergne
Université Paris-Saclay
Heidelberg University
Czech Academy of Sciences
University of Bergen
Chungbuk National University
Inha University
Pusan National University
University of California at Berkeley
Hiroshima University
Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre
University of Bonn
University of Texas at Austin
University of Münster
National Centre for Nuclear Research
University of Oslo
Goethe University Frankfurt
AGH University of Krakow
Pavol Jozef Šafárik University
Wayne State University
University of Birmingham
University of Jyväskylä
University of Salerno
University of the Witwatersrand
University of Split
Utrecht University
Wigner Research Centre for Physics
Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
University of Houston
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Yale University
National Institute for Subatomic Physics
University of Jammu
Université de Lyon
Henryk Niewodniczanski Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences
Technical University of Munich
Warsaw University of Technology
NASU - Bogolyubov Institute for Theoretical Physics
University of Messina
Polytechnic University of Bari
Nantes Université
Technical University of Kosice
Bose Institute
Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla
Horia Hulubei National Institute of Physics and Nuclear Engineering
National University of Science and Technology POLITEHNICA Bucharest
University of Kansas
Panjab University
Homi Bhabha National Institute
Universidade Estadual de Campinas
Centro de Aplicaciones Tecnológicas y Desarrollo Nuclear
National Research and Innovation Agency Republic of Indonesia
Universidade de São Paulo
Institute for Space Sciences
Lund University
Ohio State University
University of Eastern Piedmont
Comenius University
Aligarh Muslim University
Indian Institute of Technology Indore
Sofia University
Suranaree University of Technology
Nara Women's University
Gauhati University
National Research Foundation
Université de Strasbourg
The University of Tokyo
Creighton University
Austrian Academy of Sciences
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
University of Tübingen
University of Tsukuba
National Nuclear Research Center
Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering
Faculty of Technology
University of Wrocław
Universidade Federal do ABC
University of Helsinki
Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia dell’Università and Sezione INFN
University of Zagreb
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
China University of Geosciences, Wuhan
Sungkyunkwan University
Nagasaki Institute of Applied Science
Sejong University
University of Liverpool
Slovak Academy of Sciences
University of Foggia
University of South-Eastern Norway
Universidad Autonoma de Sinaloa
STFC Daresbury Laboratory
Université Grenoble Alpes
Yonsei University
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Jeonbuk National University
Yildiz Technical University
Centro de Investigacion y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional
Chicago State University
A. Alikhanian Yerevan Institute of Physics
Saga University
Polytechnic University of Turin
University of Pavia
Agenzia nazionale per le nuove tecnologie, l'energia e lo sviluppo economico sostenibile
Max Planck Institute for Physics (Werner Heisenberg Institute)
Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú
University of Derby
Gangneung-Wonju National University
Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

High-energy hadronic collisions generate environments characterized by temperatures above 100 MeV (refs. ^1,2), about 100,000 times hotter than the centre of the Sun. At present, it is therefore unclear how light (anti)nuclei with mass number A of a few units, such as the deuteron, ³He or ⁴He, each bound by only a few MeV, can emerge from these collisions^3,4. Here, the ALICE Collaboration reports that deuteron–pion momentum correlations in proton–proton (pp) collisions provide model-independent evidence that about 90% of the observed (anti)deuterons are produced in nuclear reactions⁵ following the decay of short-lived resonances, such as the Δ(1232). These findings, obtained by the ALICE Collaboration at the Large Hadron Collider, resolve a gap in our understanding of nucleosynthesis in ultrarelativistic hadronic collisions. Apart from offering insights on how (anti)nuclei are formed in hadronic collisions, the results can be used in the modelling of the production of light and heavy nuclei in cosmic rays⁶ and dark-matter decays^7,8.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	306-311
Number of pages	6
Journal	Nature
Volume	648
Issue number	8093
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09775-5
State	Published - 11 Dec 2025

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10.1038/s41586-025-09775-5

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@article{13fa2649960a478898f627093c0efd02,

title = "Observation of deuteron and antideuteron formation from resonance-decay nucleons",

abstract = "High-energy hadronic collisions generate environments characterized by temperatures above 100 MeV (refs. 1,2), about 100,000 times hotter than the centre of the Sun. At present, it is therefore unclear how light (anti)nuclei with mass number A of a few units, such as the deuteron, 3He or 4He, each bound by only a few MeV, can emerge from these collisions3,4. Here, the ALICE Collaboration reports that deuteron–pion momentum correlations in proton–proton (pp) collisions provide model-independent evidence that about 90\% of the observed (anti)deuterons are produced in nuclear reactions5 following the decay of short-lived resonances, such as the Δ(1232). These findings, obtained by the ALICE Collaboration at the Large Hadron Collider, resolve a gap in our understanding of nucleosynthesis in ultrarelativistic hadronic collisions. Apart from offering insights on how (anti)nuclei are formed in hadronic collisions, the results can be used in the modelling of the production of light and heavy nuclei in cosmic rays6 and dark-matter decays7,8.",

author = "\{The ALICE collaboration\} and N. Zurlo and Zugravel, \{S. C.\} and Y. Zhu and S. Zhu and J. Zhu and Y. Zhou and D. Zhou and Y. Zhi and V. Zherebchevskii and M. Zhao and Z. Zhang and Y. Zhang and X. Zhang and S. Zhang and M. Zhang and M. Zhang and L. Zhang and C. Zhang and B. Zhang and M. Zhalov and P. Z{\'a}vada and N. Zardoshti and F. Zanone and C. Zampolli and V. Zaccolo and A. Yuncu and S. Yuan and H. Yu and Yoon, \{J. H.\} and Yoo, \{I. K.\} and Z. Yin and J. Yi and Yeats, \{E. R.\} and S. Yano and S. Yang and S. Yang and Y. Yamaguchi and Yadav, \{A. K.\} and A. Yadav and R. Xu and Z. Xiong and K. Xiong and Y. Wu and W. Wu and Wright, \{J. R.\} and M. Winn and B. Windelband and Willems, \{G. A.\} and Gago, \{A. M.\} and \{Bazo Alba\}, \{J. L.\}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2025.",

year = "2025",

month = dec,

day = "11",

doi = "10.1038/s41586-025-09775-5",

language = "English",

volume = "648",

pages = "306--311",

journal = "Nature",

issn = "0028-0836",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Observation of deuteron and antideuteron formation from resonance-decay nucleons

AU - The ALICE collaboration

AU - Zurlo, N.

AU - Zugravel, S. C.

AU - Zhu, Y.

AU - Zhu, S.

AU - Zhu, J.

AU - Zhou, Y.

AU - Zhou, D.

AU - Zhi, Y.

AU - Zherebchevskii, V.

AU - Zhao, M.

AU - Zhang, Z.

AU - Zhang, Y.

AU - Zhang, X.

AU - Zhang, S.

AU - Zhang, M.

AU - Zhang, L.

AU - Zhang, C.

AU - Zhang, B.

AU - Zhalov, M.

AU - Závada, P.

AU - Zardoshti, N.

AU - Zanone, F.

AU - Zampolli, C.

AU - Zaccolo, V.

AU - Yuncu, A.

AU - Yuan, S.

AU - Yu, H.

AU - Yoon, J. H.

AU - Yoo, I. K.

AU - Yin, Z.

AU - Yi, J.

AU - Yeats, E. R.

AU - Yano, S.

AU - Yang, S.

AU - Yamaguchi, Y.

AU - Yadav, A. K.

AU - Yadav, A.

AU - Xu, R.

AU - Xiong, Z.

AU - Xiong, K.

AU - Wu, Y.

AU - Wu, W.

AU - Wright, J. R.

AU - Winn, M.

AU - Windelband, B.

AU - Willems, G. A.

AU - Gago, A. M.

AU - Bazo Alba, J. L.

PY - 2025/12/11

Y1 - 2025/12/11

N2 - High-energy hadronic collisions generate environments characterized by temperatures above 100 MeV (refs. 1,2), about 100,000 times hotter than the centre of the Sun. At present, it is therefore unclear how light (anti)nuclei with mass number A of a few units, such as the deuteron, 3He or 4He, each bound by only a few MeV, can emerge from these collisions3,4. Here, the ALICE Collaboration reports that deuteron–pion momentum correlations in proton–proton (pp) collisions provide model-independent evidence that about 90% of the observed (anti)deuterons are produced in nuclear reactions5 following the decay of short-lived resonances, such as the Δ(1232). These findings, obtained by the ALICE Collaboration at the Large Hadron Collider, resolve a gap in our understanding of nucleosynthesis in ultrarelativistic hadronic collisions. Apart from offering insights on how (anti)nuclei are formed in hadronic collisions, the results can be used in the modelling of the production of light and heavy nuclei in cosmic rays6 and dark-matter decays7,8.

AB - High-energy hadronic collisions generate environments characterized by temperatures above 100 MeV (refs. 1,2), about 100,000 times hotter than the centre of the Sun. At present, it is therefore unclear how light (anti)nuclei with mass number A of a few units, such as the deuteron, 3He or 4He, each bound by only a few MeV, can emerge from these collisions3,4. Here, the ALICE Collaboration reports that deuteron–pion momentum correlations in proton–proton (pp) collisions provide model-independent evidence that about 90% of the observed (anti)deuterons are produced in nuclear reactions5 following the decay of short-lived resonances, such as the Δ(1232). These findings, obtained by the ALICE Collaboration at the Large Hadron Collider, resolve a gap in our understanding of nucleosynthesis in ultrarelativistic hadronic collisions. Apart from offering insights on how (anti)nuclei are formed in hadronic collisions, the results can be used in the modelling of the production of light and heavy nuclei in cosmic rays6 and dark-matter decays7,8.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105024620989

U2 - 10.1038/s41586-025-09775-5

DO - 10.1038/s41586-025-09775-5

M3 - Article

C2 - 41372642

AN - SCOPUS:105024620989

SN - 0028-0836

VL - 648

SP - 306

EP - 311

JO - Nature

JF - Nature

IS - 8093

ER -

Observation of deuteron and antideuteron formation from resonance-decay nucleons

Abstract

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