Relativistic Heavy Ion Physics

The research of the Relativistic Heavy Ion Physics (RHIP) group is focused on the study of nuclear matter at extreme temperatures and densities, which is a new and exciting field on the borderline between nuclear and high energy physics. At these extreme conditions of temperature and density nuclear matter will undergo a phase transition to a Quark-Gluon Plasma. In this new phase nuclear matter does not any more consist primarily of protons and neutrons, but instead of deconfined quarks and gluons. Experimentally we are creating high temperature nuclear matter by colliding heavy nuclei (heavy ions) at very high energies (ultrarelativistic energies) at nuclear accelerators. The field of ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions has received a very high priority by the Department of Energy following the recommendation from the Nuclear Science Advisory Committee in 1983 for building a $800M Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory.  The RHIC accelerator was finished in 2000 and the experiment we are participating in, PHENIX, has been taken data since 2001.

Another focus of our research is the spin structure of the proton. The measurement of the spin structure functions of proton can also be accomplish within the PHENIX experiment.

Our permanent part of our group consists of professors Ken Read and Soren Sorensen. We usually have one post-doc and 2-4 students working with us. The people currently in the RHIP group can be seen on our people page.

RHIP Information:

• RHIP People
• RHIP Research, Publications and Student Thesis
• RHIP Annual Reports and Presentations
• RHIP Photo Gallery
• Publications, Articles, and News related to our research