CAREER: Jets measurements at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider

职业：相对论重离子对撞机的射流测量

• 批准号: 1945296
• 负责人: Rosi Reed
• 金额: $ 82.95万
• 依托单位: Lehigh University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-07-01 至 2025-06-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1945296&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Jets; measurements; Relativistic; Heavy

This award supports the investigation of the strong nuclear force by the PI and her research group, and also supports several initiatives to increase the participation of under-represented minorities in the field of high energy nuclear physics. The nuclei of atoms are made up of nucleons, which can be either protons or neutrons. These, in turn, consist of quarks, and are bound together by gluons. These quarks and gluons are confined to the protons and neutrons and cannot be observed individually. In order to study the strong nuclear force that holds the quarks and gluons together, heavy ions such as gold or lead nuclei are collided with each other at ultra-relativistic speeds. This forms an extremely hot and dense liquid drop of matter, where the quarks and gluons are no longer confined into normal matter as we know it. This new state of matter is called the Quark Gluon Plasma (QGP). Understanding the QGP allows for a better understanding of the strong nuclear force, which is necessary to discern how sub-atomic matter organizes itself. There are two facilities in the world that can create this matter, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Europe and the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) located in Brookhaven National Lab, in Long Island, New York. In some of the heavy ion collisions, two nucleons will strike each other hard enough to knock a quark or gluon out at a high rate of speed. This quark or gluon will travel through the QGP, losing energy to it via its interactions, and then produce a spray of particles called a "jet". The jets created in this fashion can then be used as probes of the QGP, by comparisons with collisions where QGP was not formed. This award supports studying this phenomenon at the Solenoidal Tracker at RHIC (STAR) experiment, which has recorded several large data sets ideal for jet measurements. Additionally, it will support measuring jet results using a new experiment, called sPHENIX, which will start taking data in the last few years of the award. This experiment has a central hadronic calorimeter (HCal), which allows nearly all the energy within a jet to be measured and will increase the precision of all jet-based measurements. In addition to the jet related analysis, this award includes testing electronic components of the Electromagnetc Calorimeter (EMCal) and HCal and helping with the final assembly. A dedicated test stand will be set up at the PI's institution, which will allow the electronic boards used by both calorimeters to be characterized by undergraduate and graduate students at Lehigh. These students will then spend some time at Brookhaven, assisting with the final assembly so that they can see how detectors are designed, tested, and assembled. Additionally, the students will continue to assist with the installation, commissioning and calibration of the STAR Event Plane Detector. This detector was constructed with the help of a previous award and forms a vital part of the STAR experiment by determining the impact parameter of the colliding nuclei within the STAR experiment. The diverse undergraduate and graduate students involved in this project will gain skills in the analysis of big data, develop hardware skills, and be able to network within the large experimental collaborations at RHIC. These will be important for both preparing and mentoring the next generation of STEM workers. Additionally, this award will be used to continue the K-12 outreach program at Lehigh University, which will allow the younger students to work with a diverse group of scientists. This will encourage a diverse population to pursue STEM careers.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该奖项支持国际和平研究所及其研究小组对强大核力的调查，并支持几项倡议，以增加未被充分代表的少数群体在高能核物理领域的参与。原子核由核子组成，核子可以是质子，也可以是中子。反过来，它们由夸克组成，并由胶子结合在一起。这些夸克和胶子仅限于质子和中子，不能单独观测到。为了研究将夸克和胶子结合在一起的强大核力，金或铅等重离子以超相对论速度相互碰撞。这形成了极热和致密的液滴物质，夸克和胶子不再局限于我们所知的正常物质中。这种新的物质状态被称为夸克胶子等离子体(QGP)。理解QGP有助于更好地理解强大的核力，这对于辨别亚原子物质是如何组织自己是必要的。世界上有两个设备可以创造这种物质，欧洲的大型强子对撞机(LHC)和位于纽约长岛布鲁克海文国家实验室的相对论重离子对撞机(RHIC)。在一些重离子碰撞中，两个核子会以足够大的力度相互碰撞，从而以较高的速度击出夸克或胶子。这种夸克或胶子将穿过QGP，通过它的相互作用失去能量，然后产生一股粒子喷雾，称为“喷流”。然后，通过与没有形成QGP的碰撞进行比较，以这种方式产生的喷流可以用作QGP的探测器。该奖项支持在RHIC(STAR)的螺线管跟踪器实验中研究这一现象，该实验记录了几个非常适合喷流测量的大型数据集。此外，它还将支持使用一项名为sPHENIX的新实验来测量喷气结果，该实验将在该奖项的最后几年开始收集数据。这项实验有一个中央强子量热计(HCal)，它可以测量喷气中的几乎所有能量，并将提高所有基于喷气的测量的精度。除了与喷气机相关的分析外，该奖项还包括测试电磁量热仪(EMCal)和HCal的电子元件，并帮助进行最终组装。PI的机构将设立一个专门的测试台，允许利哈伊大学的本科生和研究生对这两个热量计使用的电子板进行表征。然后，这些学生将在布鲁克海文呆一段时间，协助进行最终组装，这样他们就可以看到探测器是如何设计、测试和组装的。此外，学生们将继续协助安装、调试和校准恒星事件平面探测器。这个探测器是在前一个奖项的帮助下建造的，通过确定恒星实验中碰撞核的碰撞参数，形成了恒星实验的重要部分。参与该项目的不同本科生和研究生将获得大数据分析技能，发展硬件技能，并能够在RHIC的大型实验合作中建立网络。这些对于准备和指导下一代STEM工人都将是重要的。此外，这一奖项将用于继续利哈伊大学的K-12推广计划，该计划将允许年轻学生与不同的科学家群体合作。这将鼓励不同的人群追求STEM事业。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。