Relativistic Heavy-Ion Reactions

    Project: Research

    Project Details

    Description

    This research program's purpose is to study the production and characteristics of the quark-gluon plasma, a update form of matter in which quarks and gluons become "deconfined" and move over large distances. Current activities concentrate on the operation, data analysis, and upgrade of the PHENIX detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (BNL) and on the construction of a large electromagnetic calorimeter for the ALICE experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The emphasis of the scientific effort is on the detection of hard probes (jets, photons, J/psi and open heavy flavor), ideal plasma diagnostics since their initial production can be well-calibrated through pp collisions. ORNL has operational responsibility for the PHENIX muon-identifier and lead-glass calorimeter subsystems and support responsibilities for readout electronics of many PHENIX subsystems. The group makes substantial contributions to PHENIX's scientific output, leading and participating in analyses, journal article preparation, and physics working groups. We have also taken a leadership role in the PHENIX silicon vertex detector upgrade, which will greatly improve measurement of heavy flavor production at RHIC. Our group is developing the silicon strip front-end electronics along with engineers in the Measurement Science&Systems Engineering Division. At the CERN ALICE experiment the energy frontier for heavy ion collisions will be extended by a factor of thirty, creating conditions exceeding critical density and temperatures for a much larger fraction of the freezeout time. Our group has responsibility for the EMCAL front-end electronics and the online software development and we have provided much of the onsite presence for the US ALICE effort.

    StatusFinished
    Effective start/end date10/1/0709/30/12

    Funding

    • U.S. Department of Energy

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