Studies of the Quark Gluon Plasma at STAR and CMS at UC Davis

加州大学戴维斯分校 STAR 和 CMS 的夸克胶子等离子体研究

• 批准号: 2209614
• 负责人: Daniel Cebra
• 金额: $ 133.75万
• 依托单位: University of California-Davis
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-08-15 至 2025-07-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2209614&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Studies; Quark; Gluon; Plasma; STAR

Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) is the theoretical framework that describes the strong nuclear force. The fundamental particles that interact via this force are the quarks and gluons that build up protons and neutrons, which in turn build up the nuclei that make up all atoms. This project aims to study the nature of matter at very high temperatures (about a million times hotter than the sun’s core), where nuclear matter reaches a phase called the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP). These extremely high temperatures are reached at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which have produced striking evidence for QGP formation. At RHIC, the UC Davis Nuclear Physics Group (UCD NPG) will study the thermodynamic properties of the transition in the high-density regime, taking advantage of the versatility of the collider to access different regions of the QCD phase diagram, with particular focus on the existence of a critical point. The UCD NPG will study both fixed-target collisions and beam-beam collisions to scan areas of the phase diagram where indications of the critical point have been found. At the LHC, the UCD NPG will use heavy-quark bound states to study the properties of the QGP at the highest available temperatures, made even higher by the upgrade of the LHC energy to 5.5 TeV per nucleon pair. Heavy quarkonium states, such as bottom-antibottom or charm-anticharm, are sensitive to the modification of the QCD potential expected in the QGP phase. This award will support studies of the pattern of modifications for the bottom and charm quark states that allow a characterization of the temperature of the medium and of the changes to the QCD potential in the QGP phase. The UCD NPG will promote science education by reaching out to the broadest possible audiences through the NSF-funded giant-screen film “Secrets of the Universe”, narrated and starring Co-Pi Calderon de la Barca, and which features the students and work from this group. Through public screenings of the film with live Q&A sessions, the UCD NPG group will educate the public about the science done at the LHC and will encourage children, particularly girls and underrepresented kids, to consider pursuing careers in STEM. The UCD NPG will train and mentor REU and UCD undergraduate students throughout the project. The UCD NPG, in its pivotal role pertaining to the RHIC fixed-target program, will conduct a study of collisions that mimic cosmic radiation. Such studies have a direct impact on the NASA space-radiation protection program aimed at understanding and mitigating the effects of cosmic radiation during lengthy space missions.The scope of this project involves studies at RHIC and at the LHC. At the energy range covered by RHIC and the fixed-target program of the STAR experiment, from 3 – 200 GeV, the UCD NPG will study the phase diagram of QCD matter. Analyses of hadron spectra and baryon-number fluctuations will be used to characterize the QCD environment at each measured energy. These studies will enable searches for the conjectured critical point of the phase diagram near the low-end of the energy range scanned by RHIC. This part of the project will advance our knowledge of the existence of such a critical point and its location in the phase diagram of the strong interaction. At the top energy available at the LHC, the UCD NPG will study heavy-quarkonium states with the CMS experiment. The energy upgrade at the LHC, enabling higher energies and luminosities, will allow studies of events with two quarkonia mesons in the same collision. Events where an Upsilon (bottomonium) and J/psi (charmonium) are simultaneously produced will provide a new window to study the QGP, and how the QCD potential affects the formation of these states in the high-temperature, deconfined phase of the strong interaction.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.

量子动力学（QCD）是他的力量的理论，是质量和中子的Quark和glu虫，进而构成了构成所有原子的核。称为Quark-Gluon等离子体（QGP）。高密度制度中的过渡的热力学特性，利用对撞机访问toqcd相图的safferent sefient of toqcd epargrage tosical collisions。指示点的位置。在QGP阶段，魅力 - 安提卡姆（Anticharm L）通过对底部和魅力夸克（Charm Quark）的支持进行支持。通过现场Q＆A会议，由NSF资助的巨型屏幕电影《宇宙的秘密》饰演最广泛，UCD NPG集团将向公众教育公众在LHC上进行的科学，并鼓励Chillen nd Chillen nd指导REU和本科生的学生。该项目的范围涉及RHIC和LHC的研究。 QCD测量的能量将使搜索相对的临界点在RHIC扫描的能量范围的低端附近。在LHC的相互作用的相位图中，UCD NPG将使用CMS实验研究重型Quarkonium。 ）同时生产将提供一个新的研究QGP的窗口，以及QCD电位如何影响高温F法定的法规的形成，并被认为值得支持基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响力。