Studying Jet Modification using New Techniques in Direct Photon-Jet 2-Particle Correlation Measurements at RHIC/PHENIX

该奖项将资助布鲁克海文国家实验室的相对论重离子对撞机进行的研究，该对撞机将研究被称为夸克-胶子等离子体的奇异物质状态，这种物质是通过大而高能的原子核碰撞产生的。这种物质的性质应该主要用量子色动力学理论来描述，它是一种同样强大的力的表现，这种力不仅使质子和中子在原子核内结合在一起，而且使质子和中子本身内部的夸克和胶子等更小的粒子结合在一起。但人们对夸克和胶子在高温等离子体状态下的集体行为知之甚少。具体来说，研究者将研究等离子体与各种探针的相互作用。在同样的碰撞中产生的被称为直接光子的高能x射线可以穿透等离子体，从而提供重要的信息。最有希望的是，这些光子可以与类似高能量产生的夸克进行比较，但夸克应该与介质发生强烈的相互作用，并且大部分被介质阻止，以便推断出这些相互作用的主要特征，这些相互作用目前尚不清楚。研究者将与正在接受培训的研究生和本科生一起，对RHIC的PHENIX实验收集的数据，使用包括相关测量在内的多种技术对这些现象进行分析。除了这些分析项目，俄亥俄大学的研究小组将通过软件开发和领导探测器开发和分析小组和项目来支持PHENIX的计算、分析和数据采集能力的升级。除了教育和培训学生的重要目标之外，该项目还为社会带来了许多广泛的利益：在俄亥俄州和其他州建立了组织，以交流重离子知识；加强RHIC与其他核/粒子物理学家的国际合作；最后，该项目为国家未来计算的发展做出了许多普遍的贡献。

This award will fund research conducted at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at Brookhaven National Lab which will study the exotic state of matter called the quark-gluon plasma, created through collisions of large and highly energetic nuclei. The properties of this matter should be described primarily by the theory called Quantum Chromodynamics as manifestations of the same Strong force that not only holds protons and neutrons together within the atomic nucleus but also smaller particles called quarks and gluons together within the protons and neutrons themselves. But little is known about how the quarks and gluons behave collectively when in the plasma state at high temperatures. Specifically the investigator will study interactions of the plasma with various probes. Very high energy versions of X-rays called direct photons produced in the same collisions can penetrate the plasma and can thus provide important information. Most promisingly, these photons can be compared with quarks produced at similar high energies but which should interact strongly with and mostly be stopped by the medium, in order to deduce major features of these interactions which are currently unknown. Analysis of such phenomena using a number of techniques including especially correlation measurements will be performed by the investigator, with both graduate and undergraduate students in training, on data collected by the PHENIX experiment at RHIC. In addition to these analysis projects, the investigator's group at Ohio University will support the upgrade of computing, analysis, and data-taking capabilities of PHENIX through software development and leadership of groups and projects of detector development and analysis. The project results in a number of broad benefits to society beyond the important goal of educating and training students: organizations are developed in the state of Ohio and beyond to exchange Heavy Ion knowledge; international collaboration of RHIC and other nuclear/particle physicists is strengthened; finally the project contributes to many general benefits to the development of future computing in the nation.