Microscopic Theory of Nuclear Many-Particle Systems

理解由大量相互作用的粒子组成的微观系统的性质，特别是在系统受到极端温度和密度条件影响的情况下，是物理学的一个基本挑战。该项目涉及对物质新相性质的研究，范围从原子核高能碰撞形成的超高密度（夸克-胶子等离子体）——宇宙中最热的物质——到中子星内部的物质，中子星是一种被重力挤压得直径不到20英里的恒星，再到被困原子气体中的物质状态——宇宙中最冷的物质。这种多粒子物理的跨学科研究利用了量子流体、原子、核和天体物理学的广泛研究。了解物质的新状态和它们之间的联系，可以让我们更深入地了解微观宇宙的规律和我们生活的世界的基本属性。与此同时，重要的技术应用有可能从了解极端条件下物质的性质而产生。本研究将在原子物理、凝聚态物质和核物理之间建立新的桥梁，并为初级研究人员提供跨学科思考和创造的良好培训机会。这个项目集中在能量和密度极端条件下物质的核方面。近年来中子星物理学的进展，从对质量约为2.0太阳质量的中子星的观测，到质量-半径关系的早期推断，再到量子色动力学对核物质如何在高重子密度下转变为定义夸克物质的新认识，为该项目对中子星内部物质的研究奠定了基础。PI和他的合作者将探索新的研究思路，例如研究中子星表面高度磁化原子的光学特性，双轻子的极化作为早期超相对论性重离子碰撞中各向异性的现实探测，物质对引力波的阻尼，以及测量中子、质子和电子的电偶极矩中的许多粒子效应。PI在一个领域的研究经常在其他领域产生新的见解和方法，例如，核介子凝聚和密集夸克物质的研究为冷原子的自旋轨道耦合工作提供了信息，超冷费米子的研究为强相互作用夸克物质的理解提供了信息。

Understanding the properties of microscopic systems made of a large number of interacting particles, particularly in the case where the system is subject to extreme conditions of temperature and density, is a fundamental challenge in physics. This project concerns a study of properties of new phases of matter, ranging from ultrahigh density (quark-gluon plasmas) formed in highly energetic collisions of atomic nuclei -- the hottest matter in the universe -- to the matter inside neutron stars, which are stars so squeezed by gravity that they are less than 20 miles across, to states of matter in trapped atomic gases -- the coldest matter in the universe. This interdisciplinary study of many-particle physics leverages a wide spectrum of research in quantum fluids, atomic, nuclear, and astrophysics. Understanding new states of matter and connections between them provides deeper insights into the laws governing the microscopic universe and the basic properties of the world we live in. At the same time, important technological applications have the potential to flow from understanding the properties of matter under extreme conditions. This research will build new bridges between atomic physics and condensed matter and nuclear physics and provides an excellent training opportunity for junior researchers to think and create across disciplines.This project centers on nuclear aspects of matter under extreme conditions of energy and density. Advances in neutron star physics in recent years, from observations of neutron stars with masses ~ 2.0 solar masses, to early inferences of mass-radius relations, to an emerging understanding in quantum chromodynamics of how nuclear matter turns into deconfined quark matter at high baryon densities, set the stage for the project's research on matter in neutron star interiors. The PI and his collaborators will explore new research ideas, such as the study of optical properties of highly magnetized atoms at the surfaces of neutron stars, polarization of dileptons as a realistic probe of the anisotropies in ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions at early time, damping of gravitational waves by matter, and many particle effects in measurements of electric dipole moments of neutrons, protons, and electrons. The PI's research in one area frequently generates new insights and approaches in other areas, e.g., studies of nuclear pion condensation and on dense quark matter informing work on spin-orbit coupling in cold atoms, and work on ultracold fermions informing understanding of strongly interacting quark matter.