Scientists have simulated the strongest known material in the universe.

近日，科学家们模拟了宇宙中已知的最强物质。

So-called "nuclear pasta" is the material at the heart of a neutron¹ star's crust, taking the form of extremely dense² structures that take on shapes resembling different types of pasta, such as lasagna and spaghetti.

所谓的“核意面”是位于中子星外壳中心的物质，这种物质有极其致密的结构形式，形状类似于不同种类的意面，比如意大利千层面和意大利面条。

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.

研究人员利用一台超级计算机，进行了需要200万小时处理器时间的模拟，首次解开了中子星外壳破裂的方式。

Researchers from Indiana University and the California Institute of Technology say the new simulations could help us better understand major astrophysical phenomena³, such as gravitational waves.

印第安纳大学和加州理工学院的研究人员表示，新的模拟结果可以帮助我们更好地理解诸如引力波等重大天体物理现象。

科学家们模拟了宇宙中最强物质

'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.

麦吉尔大学的博士后研究员马修·卡普兰说道：“中子星外壳的强度，尤其是外壳底部，与大量天体物理学问题有关，但人们并不十分了解。”

Neutron stars are the product of supernovas, and are extremely dense.

中子星是超新星的产物，密度极大。

According to the researchers, they're 'a hundred trillion times denser⁴ than anything on Earth.'

据研究人员表示，它们的密度是“地球上任何东西的100万亿倍”。

Beneath the neutron star's crust, protons and neutrons⁵ are packed together into all sorts of structures, including long cylinders⁶ and flat planes.

在中子星的外壳下，质子和中子被打包成各种结构，包括长圆柱体和平面。

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.

这些特性使“核面食”非常坚硬，而且极难破裂。根据模拟结果，破坏这些结构的难度大约是破坏钢结构的100亿倍。

'Our results are valuable for astronomers⁷ 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 astronomical⁸ observations of these stars.'

卡普兰说道：“我们的研究结果对于研究中子星的天文学家来说很有价值。中子星的外层是我们实际观测的部分，因此我们需要知道这一点，以便对这些中子星的天文观测结果作出解释。”