This is a very interesting hypothesis, but just as plausible. Because forming an element like gold is extremely difficult.
There is a scientific theory that in early times, around 4 billion years ago, the Earth did not have a single piece of gold.
Then meteors containing this precious metal hit the newly formed Earth. Since then, the chemical element with the symbol Au has appeared, becoming the desire to own all of humanity today.
“Process r” generates gold
After the Big Bang, the universe fell into a very hot and extremely dense state and began to expand. As time passes, the heat cools, the photons turn into many subatomic particles (protons, neutrons and electrons).
Thousands of years later, electrically neutral atoms appear. Three light elements, hydrogen, helium and lithium, were born, followed by heavy elements.
The process of making heavy elements is also known as “s processes” (s processes or slow neutron capture). This happens when neutrons attack a slower moving nucleus, capturing the nucleus, forming heavy elements such as strontium, barium, lead, and ultimately iron.
But to make gold as well as much heavier metals, for example uranium, the reverse process is necessary. This is called the “r process, or fast neutron capture,” which occurs when nuclei move faster, attack and bind to neutrons.
Although the theory is not complicated, it is almost impossible to want to form an “r process”. This requires the fusion of three conditions:
– The source of neutrons is relatively pure.
The nucleus must be as heavy as that of iron to capture neutrons.
– A hot environment of billions of degrees.
Even the Sun is only a few million degrees warmer. And the Earth absolutely does not meet these three requirements.
Only one phenomenon in the universe is suitable for its creation. It was a supernova.
Supernova collisions form the “r process”
A supernova is the explosion of a planet. It produces very bright objects, mostly made of plasma that burst for a short time. The apparent level of stars has increased dramatically billions of times.
There are two types of supernova explosions.
– A giant planet burns fusion fuel, loses slight pressure, collapses in its core. The increased density and pressure blew it up.
The white dwarf pulls matter from an orbiting star until it reaches the Chandrasekhar limit (maximum mass of a white dwarf) and the fusion explodes.
During the supernova explosion, the protons and electrons in the heart are forced to stick together, creating neutrons. It converts the nucleus into a primitive iron-rich neutron star, potentially qualified for the “r process”.
Saying “possible” is because not all supernova explosions reach extremely high temperatures. The wind speed generated by the heat may also not be strong enough to blow away nuclei that catch up with the newly formed neutrons.
Neutrons can also break down on their own, coming back as protons, causing a lack of neutrons associated with iron nuclei.
But if it’s a collision between two neutron stars, the “r process” is inevitable. When two neutron stars hit each other’s heads, the heat reaches billions of degrees, each of which can be converted into 10 neutrons.
“Heavy nuclei are formed in the blink of an eye. Because there are too many neutrons, they are unstable, creating radiation. All the luminescence, eventually decaying into gold and platinum” – Brian Metzger, physicist Astrophysics Theory at Columbia University, USA.
Gold is a “product” of the universe
In fact, the probability of a neutron star collision is extremely rare. This can only happen in 100 million years, as early as 10,000 years.
Unlike a supernova, for a neutron star collision we need two neutron stars in a binary orbit. It will also take them a hundred million years to come together. Not to mention, a merger could create a black hole instead of a larger neutron star. It also means that there is no way the “r process” would happen.
Although the “r process” is the condition for producing gold, it remains theoretical. In 2013, the Swift satellite obtained a short burst of gamma rays (a type of event that occurs due to the collision of neutron stars), proving the existence of an “r process”. Unfortunately, we can’t collect the remnants of the explosion to see if it’s gold, platinum, or uranium.
However, it is absolutely certain that humans are incapable of creating gold. The gold on the blue planet is all the gold it has, unless there is a collision of neutron stars close enough for the gold to fly through Earth’s gravity field. But even if that happens, no one will be alive and running to collect the gold.
