Electromagnetic and Heavy-Quark Probes of QCD Matter

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One of the main objectives in contemporary nuclear research is the discovery and quantitative characterization of new phases of strongly interacting matter at very high temperatures and densities, most notably the Quark-Gluon Plasma which is believed to have ruled the Universe in the first few microseconds of its evolution. A fascinating aspect of this field is the possibility to recreate this kind of matter, for a short moment, in the laboratory, by colliding heavy atomic nuclei at high energies. This project aims at advancing the theoretical understanding of the Quark-Gluon Plasma, and to develop phenomenological signatures of its creation and properties in nuclear collision experiments, as e.g. conducted with the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Electromagnetic radiation and particles containing heavy quarks are particularly suitable to extract information about the hot and dense matter formed in heavy-ion collisions. It is planned to relate this information to fundamental properties of the strong interactions (Quantum Chromodynamics, or QCD), to illuminate the generation of the visible mass in the Universe and the confinement of quarks and gluons into nucleons, the building blocks of atomic nuclei. Basic research by graduate-student and postdoctoral researchers is integrated with educational activities aimed at undergraduate and regional high-school students, including previously established summer research and Saturday Morning Physics programs at Texas A&M University.