Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

THE YEAR-ONE PHYSICS CAPABILITIES OF STAR.

Conference ·
OSTI ID:14853

When the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at BNL begins operation in the Fall of 1999, heavy ions will be accelerated in collider mode for the first time, and a new energy regime will be entered for Heavy Ion Physics. The Solenoidal Tracker At RHIC (STAR) detector has a near 4{pi} coverage and is dedicated to taking hadronic measurements. A large volume Time Projection Chamber placed in a solenoidal magnet at 0.5T is used to track and identify the many thousands of produced particles. STAR will measure many observables simultaneously on an event-by-event basis to study signatures of a possible QGP phase transition and the space-time evolution of the collision process. The goal is to obtain a fundamental understanding of the microscopic structure of hadronic interactions, at the level of quarks and gluons, at high energy densities. This paper outlines the physics STAR intends to study during the first year of operation.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (US)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Research (ER) (US)
DOE Contract Number:
AC02-98CH10886
OSTI ID:
14853
Report Number(s):
BNL--66894; KB0201; KB0201
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English