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科學家們模擬了宇宙中最強物質
Scientists have simulated the strongest known material in the universe.
近日，科學家們模擬了宇宙中已知的最強物質。
So-called "nuclear pasta" is the material at the heart of a neutron star's crust, taking the form of extremely dense structures that take on shapes resembling different types of pasta, such as lasagna and spaghetti.
所謂的「核意面」是位於中子星外殼中心的物質，這種物質有極其緻密的結構形式，形狀類似於不同種類的意面，比如義大利千層面和義大利麵條。
Using a supercomputer to run simulations requiring 2 million hours' worth of processor time, researchers have unraveled, for the first time, the ways in which neutron star crusts break.
研究人員利用一臺超級計算機，進行了需要200萬小時處理器時間的模擬，首次解開了中子星外殼破裂的方式。
Researchers from Indiana University and the California Institute of Technology say the new simulations could help us better understand major astrophysical phenomena, such as gravitational waves.
印第安納大學和加州理工學院的研究人員表示，新的模擬結果可以幫助我們更好地理解諸如引力波等重大天體物理現象。
'The strength of the neutron star crust, especially the bottom of the crust, is relevant to a large number of astrophysics problems, but isn't well understood,' says Matthew Caplan, a postdoctoral research fellow at McGill University.
麥吉爾大學的博士後研究員馬修·卡普蘭說道：「中子星外殼的強度，尤其是外殼底部，與大量天體物理學問題有關，但人們並不十分了解。」
Neutron stars are the product of supernovas, and are extremely dense.
中子星是超新星的產物，密度極大。
According to the researchers, they're 'a hundred trillion times denser than anything on Earth.'
據研究人員表示，它們的密度是「地球上任何東西的100萬億倍」。
Beneath the neutron star's crust, protons and neutrons are packed together into all sorts of structures, including long cylinders and flat planes.
在中子星的外殼下，質子和中子被打包成各種結構，包括長圓柱體和平面。
These properties make nuclear pasta very stiff, and incredibly difficult to break. According to the simulations, these structures are about 10 billion times harder to break than steel.
這些特性使「核麵食」非常堅硬，而且極難破裂。根據模擬結果，破壞這些結構的難度大約是破壞鋼結構的100億倍。
'Our results are valuable for astronomers who study neutron stars,' Caplan says. 'Their outer layer is the part we actually observe, so we need to understand that in order to interpret astronomical observations of these stars.'
卡普蘭說道：「我們的研究結果對於研究中子星的天文學家來說很有價值。中子星的外層是我們實際觀測的部分，因此我們需要知道這一點，以便對這些中子星的天文觀測結果作出解釋。」
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