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

这一奖项将资助布鲁克海文国家实验室相对论重离子对撞机进行的研究，该研究将研究被称为夸克-胶子等离子体的物质的奇异状态，这种物质是通过大的高能原子核的碰撞而产生的。这种物质的性质应该主要被称为量子色动力学的理论描述为同样强大的力的表现，这种力不仅将质子和中子聚集在原子核内，而且将被称为夸克和胶子的较小粒子聚集在质子和中子本身中。但人们对夸克和胶子在高温下处于等离子体状态时的集体行为知之甚少。具体地说，研究人员将研究等离子体与各种探测器的相互作用。在相同的碰撞中产生的称为直接光子的非常高能量的X射线可以穿透等离子体，因此可以提供重要的信息。最有希望的是，这些光子可以与在类似高能下产生的夸克进行比较，但夸克应该与介质强烈相互作用，并且大多被介质阻止，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。调查人员将根据RHIC的PHENIX实验收集的数据，利用包括特别是相关性测量在内的多种技术对这种现象进行分析，研究生和本科生都在接受培训。除了这些分析项目外，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，支持PHENIX计算、分析和数据获取能力的升级。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一些广泛的好处：在俄亥俄州及其他州建立了交流重离子知识的组织；加强了RHIC和其他核子/粒子物理学家的国际合作；最后，该项目为美国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.