For the research, the scientists searched for lambda hyperons and their antimatter counterparts, antilambdas. They sought to determine whether and to what extent, the particles\u2019 spins aligned as they emerged from RHIC collisions<\/a>.<\/p>\n Lambdas are ideal for spin research because the direction of a lambda\u2019s spin can be inferred from the direction in which a proton or antiproton<\/a> is emitted during its decay. Each lambda also contains a strange quark, or a strange antiquark in the case of an antilambda, which allows physicists to trace its origins.<\/p>\n Virtual strange quark\u2013antiquark pairs are always spin aligned. Detecting the same alignment in the spins of lambda\u2013antilambda pairs strongly suggests that the strange quarks inside them originated as a single entangled pair in the vacuum.<\/p>\n \u201cNormally, in a RHIC collision, the spins of the vast majority of particles that come out are randomly oriented,\u201d Jan Vanek, PhD, a physicist at the University of New Hampshire, said. \u201cWe are looking for a very tiny difference from all those other particles to find lambda\/antilambdas<\/a> where their spins are correlated.\u201d<\/p>\n A quantum connection<\/p>\n The team analyzed millions of proton\u2013proton collisions. They found that lambdas and antilambdas emerging close together are perfectly spin-aligned, similarly to the virtual quark\/antiquark pairs in the vacuum.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s as if these particle pairs start out as quantum twins,\u201d Vanek explained. \u201cWhen they\u2019re generated close together, the lambdas retain the spin alignment of the virtual strange quarks from which they were born.\u201d<\/p>\n Tu noted that this is the first direct evidence that these quarks originate from the quantum vacuum. \u201cIt\u2019s amazing to see that the spin alignment of the entangled virtual quarks survives the process of transformation into real matter.\u201d<\/p>\n The team believes that the effect could point to deeper quantum entanglement between lambda\u2013antilambda pairs. Interestingly though, it disappears when the particles are produced farther apart in RHIC collisions<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cIt could be that these twins sent farther away from each other are more affected by other things in their environment, interactions with other quarks, for example, that cause them to behave differently and lose their connection,\u201d Vanek\u00a0said. <\/p>\n According to the researchers, the transition from quantum-connected behavior to ordinary classical physics, is one of the most important open questions in science, with implications for quantum computing and information technologies.<\/p>\n The findings open a novel way to probe how quarks become bound into protons, neutrons, and other particles. \u201cHow something \u2013 the visible matter of the universe \u2013 connects to the \u2018nothingness\u2019 of the vacuum,\u201d Tu concluded in a press release<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Z1_9bb743.jpg\" "\\"World\u2019s")
Zhoudunming Tu, PhD, a physicist at Brookhaven National Laboratory, in front of the STAR experiment\/detector.
Credit: Kevin Coughlin\/Brookhaven National Laboratory<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Z2_3c4a69.jpg\" "\\"World\u2019s")
Jan Vanek, PhD, a physicist at the University of New Hampshire, in front of the STAR experiment\/detector.
Credit: Kevin Coughlin\/Brookhaven National Laboratory<\/a><\/p>\n