CAREER: Jets measurements at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider

职业：相对论重离子对撞机的射流测量

• 批准号: 1945296
• 负责人: Rosi Reed
• 金额: $ 82.95万
• 依托单位: Lehigh University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-07-01 至 2025-06-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1945296&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Jets; measurements; Relativistic; Heavy

This award supports the investigation of the strong nuclear force by the PI and her research group, and also supports several initiatives to increase the participation of under-represented minorities in the field of high energy nuclear physics. The nuclei of atoms are made up of nucleons, which can be either protons or neutrons. These, in turn, consist of quarks, and are bound together by gluons. These quarks and gluons are confined to the protons and neutrons and cannot be observed individually. In order to study the strong nuclear force that holds the quarks and gluons together, heavy ions such as gold or lead nuclei are collided with each other at ultra-relativistic speeds. This forms an extremely hot and dense liquid drop of matter, where the quarks and gluons are no longer confined into normal matter as we know it. This new state of matter is called the Quark Gluon Plasma (QGP). Understanding the QGP allows for a better understanding of the strong nuclear force, which is necessary to discern how sub-atomic matter organizes itself. There are two facilities in the world that can create this matter, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Europe and the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) located in Brookhaven National Lab, in Long Island, New York. In some of the heavy ion collisions, two nucleons will strike each other hard enough to knock a quark or gluon out at a high rate of speed. This quark or gluon will travel through the QGP, losing energy to it via its interactions, and then produce a spray of particles called a "jet". The jets created in this fashion can then be used as probes of the QGP, by comparisons with collisions where QGP was not formed. This award supports studying this phenomenon at the Solenoidal Tracker at RHIC (STAR) experiment, which has recorded several large data sets ideal for jet measurements. Additionally, it will support measuring jet results using a new experiment, called sPHENIX, which will start taking data in the last few years of the award. This experiment has a central hadronic calorimeter (HCal), which allows nearly all the energy within a jet to be measured and will increase the precision of all jet-based measurements. In addition to the jet related analysis, this award includes testing electronic components of the Electromagnetc Calorimeter (EMCal) and HCal and helping with the final assembly. A dedicated test stand will be set up at the PI's institution, which will allow the electronic boards used by both calorimeters to be characterized by undergraduate and graduate students at Lehigh. These students will then spend some time at Brookhaven, assisting with the final assembly so that they can see how detectors are designed, tested, and assembled. Additionally, the students will continue to assist with the installation, commissioning and calibration of the STAR Event Plane Detector. This detector was constructed with the help of a previous award and forms a vital part of the STAR experiment by determining the impact parameter of the colliding nuclei within the STAR experiment. The diverse undergraduate and graduate students involved in this project will gain skills in the analysis of big data, develop hardware skills, and be able to network within the large experimental collaborations at RHIC. These will be important for both preparing and mentoring the next generation of STEM workers. Additionally, this award will be used to continue the K-12 outreach program at Lehigh University, which will allow the younger students to work with a diverse group of scientists. This will encourage a diverse population to pursue STEM careers.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该奖项支持PI及其研究小组对强大核力量的调查，还支持一些计划，以增加代表性不足的少数民族在高能核物理学领域的参与。 原子的核由核子组成，核子可以是质子或中子。 这些反过来又由夸克组成，并由胶子束缚在一起。 这些夸克和胶子仅限于质子和中子，无法单独观察。为了研究将夸克和粘合剂固定在一起的强核力量，在超偏见的速度下，诸如黄金或铅核等重离子（例如黄金或铅核）相撞。这形成了非常热且密集的物质，夸克和胶子不再局限于正常物质。 这种新的物质称为夸克·格鲁恩等离子体（QGP）。 了解QGP可以更好地理解强大的核力量，这对于辨别亚原子物质如何组织起来是必要的。 世界上有两个可以创建此问题的设施，欧洲的大型强子对撞机（LHC）和位于纽约长岛布鲁克黑文国家实验室的相对论重离子撞机（RHIC）。 在某些重离子碰撞中，两个核子将互相撞击足以以较高的速度击倒夸克或gluon。 这个夸克或gluon将通过QGP传播，通过其相互作用失去能量，然后产生称为“射流”的颗粒喷雾剂。 通过与未形成QGP的碰撞进行比较，以这种方式创建的喷气机可以用作QGP的探针。 该奖项支持在RHIC（Star）实验的螺线管跟踪器上研究这种现象，该实验已记录了几个大型数据集，非常适合喷气测量。 此外，它将使用名为Sphenix的新实验来支持测量喷气结果，该实验将在奖励的最后几年开始获取数据。 该实验具有中央辐照热仪（HCAL），该实验几乎可以测量射流中的所有能量，并将提高所有基于射流的测量值的精度。 除了与JET相关的分析外，该奖项还包括测试电磁量热计（EMCAL）和HCAL的电子组件以及最终组装的帮助。 PI的机构将设立一个专用的测试架，这将允许两种量热计使用的电子板以Lehigh的本科生和研究生为特征。然后，这些学生将在布鲁克黑文（Brookhaven）花一些时间，协助完成最后的组装，以便他们可以看到探测器的设计，测试和组装方式。 此外，学生们将继续协助星际活动平面检测器的安装，调试和校准。 该探测器是在先前的奖励的帮助下构建的，并通过确定恒星实验中碰撞核的影响参数来形成恒星实验的重要部分。 参与该项目的多样化的本科生和研究生将获得分析大数据，发展硬件技能并能够在RHIC的大型实验合作中进行交流的技能。 这些对于准备和指导下一代STEM工人很重要。 此外，该奖项将用于继续Lehigh University的K-12外展计划，该计划将使年轻学生与多样化的科学家一起工作。 这将鼓励多样化的人群从事STEM职业。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是使用基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛影响的评论标准的评估值得支持的。