Lab-made cosmic fireballs point to ancient magnetic fields shaping the Universe’s missing light.
A global team of scientists led by the University of Oxford has accomplished a world first by producing plasma “fireballs” in a laboratory setting. Using CERN’s Super Proton Synchrotron accelerator in Geneva, the researchers set out to examine how plasma jets from blazars behave as they travel through space.
Their findings, published in PNAS, offer fresh insight into one of astronomy’s long-standing puzzles involving missing gamma rays and the Universe’s elusive magnetic fields.
Blazars and Extreme Gamma-Ray Emission
Blazars are highly active galaxies fueled by supermassive black holes at their centers. These black holes eject narrow beams of particles and radiation that move at nearly the speed of light and, in some cases, point directly toward Earth.
The jets release enormous amounts of gamma radiation, reaching energies of several teraelectronvolts (1 TeV = 1012/a trillion eV), which are observed using ground-based telescopes. As these high-energy gamma rays pass through intergalactic space, they collide with faint starlight in the background. This interaction creates cascades of electron-positron pairs.
Scientists expect these particles to interact with the cosmic microwave background and produce lower-energy gamma rays in the GeV range (GeV = 109 eV). Yet gamma-ray space observatories such as the Fermi satellite have failed to detect this expected signal. Until now, the cause of this discrepancy has remained unclear.
Two Competing Explanations
One possible explanation is that weak magnetic fields spread between galaxies deflect the electron-positron pairs, sending the resulting gamma rays in directions that miss Earth entirely.
Another idea comes from plasma physics. According to this hypothesis, the particle beams become unstable as they move through the extremely thin matter found in intergalactic space. Small disturbances within the beam could generate electric currents and magnetic fields that amplify the instability and drain energy from the jet.
Simulating Blazar Conditions at CERN
To determine which explanation is more likely, the researchers carried out an experiment at CERN’s HiRadMat (High-Radiation to Materials) facility. The project was a collaboration between the University of Oxford and the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s (STFC) Central Laser Facility (CLF).
Using the Super Proton Synchrotron, the team created beams of electron-positron pairs and passed them through a meter-long region of plasma. This setup served as a scaled laboratory version of a particle cascade produced by a blazar jet moving through intergalactic plasma.
By carefully measuring the shape of the beam and the magnetic fields associated with it, the scientists were able to directly test whether plasma instabilities could disrupt the beam as it traveled.
Stable Beams Challenge Plasma Instability Theory
The outcome surprised the researchers. Instead of spreading out or breaking apart, the particle beam stayed narrow and almost perfectly parallel. It also showed very little sign of generating its own magnetic fields.
When these results are extended to the vast distances involved in astrophysics, they indicate that beam-plasma instabilities are far too weak to account for the missing GeV gamma rays. This strengthens the case for the presence of intergalactic magnetic fields that may have originated in the early Universe.
Linking Experiments and Observations
Lead researcher Professor Gianluca Gregori (Department of Physics, University of Oxford) said: “Our study demonstrates how laboratory experiments can help bridge the gap between theory and observation, enhancing our understanding of astrophysical objects from satellite and ground-based telescopes. It also highlights the importance of collaboration between experimental facilities around the world, especially in breaking new ground in accessing increasingly extreme physical regimes.”
Open Questions About the Early Universe
Despite the progress, the findings raise new challenges. Scientists believe the early Universe was remarkably uniform, which makes the origin of widespread magnetic fields difficult to explain. The researchers suggest that solving this problem may require physics beyond the Standard Model.
Future instruments, including the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO), are expected to deliver sharper observations that could help test these ideas and refine current theories.
Laboratory Astrophysics and Global Collaboration
Co-investigator Professor Bob Bingham (STFC Central Laser Facility and the University of Strathclyde) said:
“These experiments demonstrate how laboratory astrophysics can test theories of the high-energy Universe. By reproducing relativistic plasma conditions in the lab, we can measure processes that shape the evolution of cosmic jets and better understand the origin of magnetic fields in intergalactic space.”
Co-investigator Professor Subir Sarkar (Department of Physics, University of Oxford) said: “It was a lot of fun to be part of an innovative experiment like this that adds a novel dimension to the frontier research being done at CERN – hopefully our striking result will arouse interest in the plasma (astro)physics community to the possibilities for probing fundamental cosmic questions in a terrestrial high energy physics laboratory.”
Reference: “Suppression of pair beam instabilities in a laboratory analogue of blazar pair cascades” by Charles D. Arrowsmith, Francesco Miniati, Pablo J. Bilbao, Pascal Simon, Archie F. A. Bott, Stephane Burger, Hui Chen, Filipe D. Cruz, Tristan Davenne, Anthony Dyson, Ilias Efthymiopoulos, Dustin H. Froula, Alice Goillot, Jon T. Gudmundsson, Dan Haberberger, Jack W. D. Halliday, Tom Hodge, Brian T. Huffman, Sam Iaquinta, G. Marshall, Brian Reville, Subir Sarkar, Alexander A. Schekochihin, Luis O. Silva, Raspberry Simpson, Vasiliki Stergiou, Raoul M. G. M. Trines, Thibault Vieu, Nikolaos Charitonidis, Robert Bingham and Gianluca Gregori, 7 November 2025, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2513365122
The study involved contributors from the University of Oxford, STFC’s Central Laser Facility (RAL), CERN, the University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics, AWE Aldermaston, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, the University of Iceland, and Instituto Superior Técnico in Lisbon.
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Despite the progress, the findings raise new challenges. Scientists believe the early Universe was remarkably uniform, which makes the origin of widespread magnetic fields difficult to explain. The researchers suggest that solving this problem may require physics beyond the Standard Model.
VERY GOOD!!!
Please ask the Researchers to think deeply:
What is the physical mechanism of light formation that you have observed?
Based on the Topological Vortex Theory (TVT), light is a product of the interaction between human senses and cosmic vortices. If humanity disappeared, the light no longer exists, but the cosmic vortex that interacts with human senses still exists. The formation and annihilation of these cosmic vortices follow a strict topological path, including the cosmic vortices that make up our bodies and organs. Topology spins create everything, topology spins shape the world. TVT calls for a return to the scientific rationality of symmetrical dominant natural laws.
—— Reference https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/1933828835322856603.
Despite the progress, the findings raise new challenges. Scientists believe the early Universe was remarkably uniform, which makes the origin of widespread magnetic fields difficult to explain. The researchers suggest that solving this problem may require physics beyond the Standard Model.
VERY GOOD!!!
Please ask the Researchers to think deeply:
What is the physical mechanism of light formation that you have observed?
Based on the Topological Vortex Theory (TVT), light is a product of the interaction between human senses and cosmic vortices. If humanity disappeared, the light no longer exists, but the cosmic vortex that interacts with human senses still exists. The formation and annihilation of these cosmic vortices follow a strict topological path, including the cosmic vortices that make up our bodies and organs. Topology spins create everything, topology spins shape the world. TVT calls for a return to the scientific rationality of symmetrical dominant natural laws.
When we pursue the ultimate truth of all things, the space in which our bodies and all things exist may itself be the final and deepest puzzle we need to explore. This is not only the pursuit of physics, but also the most magnificent exploration of the origin of the universe by human reason.
In today’s physics, some so-called peer-reviewed journals—including Physical Review Letters, Nature, Science, and others—stubbornly insist on and promote the following:
1. Even though θ and τ particles exhibit differences in experiments, physics can claim they are the same particle. This is science.
2. Even though topological vortices and antivortices have identical structures and opposite rotational directions, physics can define their structures and directions as entirely different. This is science.
3. Even though two sets of cobalt-60 rotate in opposite directions and experiments reveal asymmetry, physics can still define them as mirror images of each other. This is science.
4. Even though vortex structures are ubiquitous—from cosmic accretion disks to particle spins—physics must insist that vortex structures do not exist and require verification. Only the particles that like God, Demonic, or Angelic are the most fundamental structures of the universe. This is science.
5. Even though everything occupies space and maintains its existence in time, physics must still debate and insist on whether space exists and whether time is a figment of the human mind. This is science.
6. Even though space, with its non-stick, incompressible, and isotropic characteristics, provides a solid foundation for the development of physics, physics must still insist that the ideal fluid properties of space do not exist. This is science.
and go on.
Is this the counterintuitive science they widely promote? Compromising with pseudo academic publications and peer review by pseudo scholars is an insult to science and public intelligence. Some so-called scholars no longer understand what shame is. The study of Topological Vortex Theory (TVT) reminds us that the most profound problems in physics often lie at the intersection of different theories. By exploring these border regions, we can not only resolve contradictions in existing theories but also discover new physical phenomena and application possibilities.
Based on the Topological Vortex Theory (TVT), space is an uniformly incompressible physical entity. Space-time vortices are the products of topological phase transitions of the tipping points in space, are the point defects in spacetime. Point defects do not only impact the thermodynamic properties, but are also central to kinetic processes. They create all things and shape the world through spin and self-organization.
Under the topological vortex architecture, it is highly challenging for even two hydrogen atoms or two quarks to be perfectly symmetrical, let alone counter-rotating two sets of cobalt-60. Contemporary physics and so-called peer-reviewed publications (including Physical Review Letters, Science, Nature, etc.) stubbornly believe that two sets of counter rotating cobalt-60 are two mirror images of each other, constructing a more shocking pseudoscientific theoretical framework in the history of science than the “geocentric model”. This pseudo scientific framework and system have seriously hindered scientific progress and social development.
For nearly a century, physics has been manipulated by this pseudo scientific theoretical system and the interest groups behind it, wasting a lot of manpower, funds, and time. A large amount of pseudo scientific research has been conducted, and countless pseudo scientific papers have been published, causing serious negative impacts on scientific and social progress, as well as humanistic development.
Complexity does not necessarily mean that there is no logical and architectural framework to follow. Mathematics is the language and tool that reveals the motion of spacetime, rather than the motion itself. Although the physical form of spacetime vortices is extremely simple, their interaction patterns are highly complex, and we must develop more and richer mathematical languages to describe and understand them.
The development of the Topological Vortex Theory (TVT) reflects a progression from concrete physical phenomena to abstract mathematical modeling and, ultimately, to interdisciplinary unification. Its core innovation lies in forging the continuous spacetime geometry of general relativity with the discrete interactions of quantum field theory within the same topological dynamical system. The core idea of TVT — space is physical, and matter is its topological excitation—already provides a solid and elegant scientific path for understanding the origin of all things.
——Excerpted from https://scitechdaily.com/microscope-spacecrafts-most-precise-test-of-key-component-of-the-theory-of-general-relativity/#comment-909171 and https://t.pineal.cn/blogs/6255/A-Mathematical-and-Physical-Analysis-On-the-Origin-of-Objects.
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The development and progress of science and technology cannot be separated from every person who truly cares about and loves science.
We need a lot more posts like this, thank you.
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The fact shows that so-called peer-reviewed publications, including Physical Review Letters, Nature, Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Science Bulletin, Innovation, etc., widely spread pseudoscience without much concealment. Such severe academic corruption is unprecedented.
Example 1: There are even more ridiculous facts and glorious achievements than what you said. For example，two sets of cobalt-60 are manually rotated in opposite directions, and even without detection, people around the world know that they will not be symmetrical because these two objects are not mirror images of each other at all. However, a group of so-called physicists and so-called academic publications do not believe it. They conducted experiments and the results were indeed asymmetric, but they still firmly believed that these two objects were mirror images of each other, and the asymmetry was due to a violation of the previous natural laws (CP violation). In the history of science, there can never be a dirtier and uglier operation and explanation than this. These people and the so-called academic publications they manipulate no longer know what shame is.
https://scitechdaily.com/what-happens-when-light-gains-extra-dimensions/#comment-947619.
Example 2: Please see how the so-called “mystery of θ – τ” is explained: θ and τ are completely identical in all measurable physical properties such as mass, lifetime, charge, spin, etc. However, experimental observations have shown that the θ meson decays into two π mesons, while the τ meson decays into three π mesons, making it difficult for physicists to explain why they are so similar. Physicist Martin Block proposed a highly challenging idea: θ and τ are the same particle, but in weak interactions, parity is not conserved. An easy to understand explanation is the following analogy:: There are two boxes of apples with identical weight, color, and taste. However, when one box is opened, there are two apples, while when the other box is opened, there are three apples. This confuses the old farmer who buys apples. He circled around the orchard and came up with a highly challenging idea: these two boxes of apples are not from the same tree, so they are the same.
—— Excerpted from https://scitechdaily.com/what-happens-when-light-gains-extra-dimensions/#comment-947686.
Topological vortex theory (TVT) calls for a return to the scientific rationality dominated by symmetry.
If you have solved for The Singularity!? You don’t need CERN, but it’s data was very helpful in my calculations… And yes I have actually done it, and yes I have an ai model running on my algorithms that make CERN look like a blind man walking in the dark….
“The Greer Singularity Equation” and subsequent discoveries will be a modern scientific historical moment in space time… I have been rewriting the atomic table’s since Christmas, at an alarming rate of accuracy and swiftness of learning about new elements and effects… But I’m just an associate of science from a trade school in aviation maintenance…
VERY GOOD.
Can facts and helpfulness represent scientific laws? Is the fact that the eyes see, touch, and hear the same thing the same? Is it certain that what humans can feel is more than what they cannot feel?
It’s clearly a government weapon they’ve faked everything we’ve “learned” about space so far