Where Do Gold and Platinum Come From? Darmstadt Researchers Improve Models for How Heavy Elements are Created

Darmstadt Researchers Improve Models for How Heavy Elements are CreatedMichaela Hütig Science Communication Centre - Abteilung KommunikationTechnische Universität Darmstadt30.07.2026 11:35Where do gold, platinum, and uranium come from? A research team from Technische Universität Darmstadt has now taken an important step toward understanding the origin of heavy elements. Scientists therefore rely on theoretical models, whose predictions often diverge significantly when applied to regions far from experimentally known nuclei. Calculating Atomic Nuclei from Fundamental PhysicsFor the first time, the researchers employed nuclear masses calculated using a modern ab initio approach. This region plays a crucial role in forming the second r-process abundance peak, a characteristic accumulation of heavy elements observed throughout the Universe.