The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider ( RHIC ), a landmark in nuclear physics research, begins its 25th and final run at Brookhaven National Laboratory with one goal: to continue exploring the mysterious matter that existed in the earliest moments of the universe. During its final year of operations, RHIC will collide gold ions at near-light speeds to create and study quark-gluon plasma (QGP), an early form of matter that formed shortly after the Big Bang.
The relativistic heavy ion collider and its scientific legacy
Since its opening in 2000, RHIC has been a critical tool for scientists seeking to understand the nature of matter at the subatomic level . RHIC has enabled the creation of a new form of matter: quark-gluon plasma , a state of matter where the constituents of protons and neutrons decay. This plasma existed only in the first few microseconds after the birth of the universe, and scientists have been trying to recreate it in the laboratory to better understand how matter as we know it emerged.
During run 25, scientists will use the most advanced detectors and accelerators developed over more than two decades. The STAR detector , in operation since the beginning of RHIC, has been upgraded to collect more data from gold ion collisions at 200 GeV, while the newest detector, sPHENIX , will begin operating at full capacity to obtain more precise measurements of the QGP.
Although RHIC is nearing the end of its life, its legacy lives on in the next generation of accelerators: the Electron-Ion Collider ( EIC ). Technological advances and experience gained from RHIC will serve as the foundation for EIC, a project that will reuse some RHIC components and improve them to enable new experiments in nuclear physics. EIC will be important for studying cold nuclear matter , the state in which visible matter is found, and will complement RHIC’s current hot matter research.
In addition to gold ion collisions , RHIC will continue its APEX experiments, designed to improve accelerator performance and facilitate future construction of the EIC. These experiments will optimize collision rates and improve the precision of energetic particle measurements . Similarly, RHIC will remain a training center for scientists, with researchers from around the world collaborating on experiments and sharing knowledge in nuclear physics.
Advances in the understanding of quark-gluon plasma, new detector technologies, and innovations in particle accelerators will be pillars for future research in nuclear physics.
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Source and photo: Brookhaven National Laboratory
