A experimental research program on chirality at the LHC
- Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)
Heavy-ion collisions provide a unique opportunity to investigate the fundamental laws of physics of the strong force. The extreme conditions created by the collisions within a finite volume are akin to the properties of the deconfined partonic state which existed very shortly after the Big Bang and just prior to visible matter formation in the Universe. In this state massless quarks and gluons (partons) are ``quasi free" particles, the so-called Quark Gluon Plasma (QGP). By following the expansion and cooling of this state, we will map out the process of nucleonic matter formation, which occurs during the phase transition. The fundamental properties of this early partonic phase of matter are not well understood, but they are essential for confirming QCD (Quantum Chromo-Dynamics) and the Standard Model. The specific topic, chiral symmetry restoration, has been called ``the remaining puzzle of QCD.'' This puzzle can only be studied in the dense partonic medium generated in heavy-ion collisions. The research objectives of this proposal are the development and application of new analysis strategies to study chirality and the properties of the medium above the QGP phase transition using hadronic resonances detected with the ALICE experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the CERN research laboratory in Switzerland. This grant funded a new effort at the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) to investigate the Quark Gluon Plasma (QGP) at the highest possible energy of 2.76 TeV per nucleon at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN via the ALICE experiment. The findings added to our knowledge of the dynamical evolution and the properties of the hot, dense matter produced in heavy-ion collisions, and provided a deeper understanding of multi-hadron interactions in these extreme nuclear matter systems. Our group contributed as well to the hardware and software for the ALICE USA-funded Calorimeter Detector (EMCal). The LHC research program and its connection to fundamental questions in high energy, nuclear and astrophysics has triggered the imagination of many young students worldwide. The studies also promoted the early involvement of students and young postdocs in a large, multi-national research effort abroad, which provided them with substantial experience and skills prior to choosing their career path. The undergraduate program, in conjunction with the Freshman Research Initiative at UT Austin, allowed the students to complete a research project within the field of Nuclear Physics.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Nuclear Physics (NP)
- DOE Contract Number:
- SC0003892
- OSTI ID:
- 1325001
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
CERN LHC
QUARK MATTER
NUCLEAR MATTER
CHIRALITY
GLUONS
QUARKS
HEAVY ION REACTIONS
TEXAS
ALICE DETECTOR
QUANTUM CHROMODYNAMICS
STANDARD MODEL
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
SHOWER COUNTERS
CHIRAL SYMMETRY
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
TEV RANGE
COMPUTER CODES
COOLING
EVOLUTION
EXPANSION
STRONG INTERACTIONS
Heavy Ion Physics
High Energy Nuclear Physics
ALICE Experiment
LHC