RUI: Studying the Strong Nuclear Force at Augustana University

该奖项延续了南达科他州苏福尔斯奥古斯塔纳大学致力于强核力研究的科学项目，强核力是原子核中质子和中子的结合力，也是太阳发电的动力。早期的宇宙非常热，以至于质子和中子都不存在。相反，存在着一种稠密的夸克和胶子汤，它们是构成质子和中子并通过强核力相互作用的基本粒子。在布鲁克海文国家实验室的相对论重离子对撞机（RHIC）上，重核（如金）的碰撞重现了物质的这种状态。作为sPHENIX合作项目的一员，奥古斯塔纳核物理小组提议分析从夸克-胶子等离子体中产生的高能粒子如何改变它们的能量和方向。这样的测量可以得到等离子体性质的信息，以及基本的强核力相互作用的细节。该小组也是ePIC合作项目的成员之一，该项目正在为最终将在布鲁克海文建造的电子-离子对撞机（EIC）设计探测器。该小组将为研究潜在的电磁量热计技术提供人力。这项提议的工作在南达科他州和该地区是独一无二的，为物理和工程预科学生提供了接受技术培训的机会。他们将与来自世界各地的合作者合作，并出席国家会议。该项目将为学习物理和工程预科的本科生提供研究资金，并提供广泛的教育效益。学生将获得实用技能，如计算机编程、大数据集分析、电气工程应用和机械工程设计。所有这些技能都可以转移到学生、国家和民族感兴趣的其他职业中。学生将参加每周的合作会议，出席国家会议，并参观合作机构。这样的机会将培养他们的沟通技巧，扩大他们的专业网络，使他们与潜在的研究生院接触，并为21世纪的技术工作做好准备。该奖项支持南达科他州唯一一个致力于研究强核力的实验室的继续发展。PI是位于布鲁克海文国家实验室的相对论重离子对撞机（RHIC）的sPHENIX合作项目和电子离子对撞机（EIC）的ePIC合作项目的成员。总的来说，PI和他的学生专注于使用高动量传递（Q2）过程，特别是射流，来理解低Q2过程。利用sPHENIX Au+Au和p+p数据，将测量强子-射流的方位角相关性。根据喷流的组合方式，这些相关性可以对夸克-胶子等离子体（QGP）中部分子能量损失的不同方面敏感。这些测量利用了RHIC的高亮度和sPHENIX的高DAQ率，获得了大量的射流样本来研究RHIC QGP的输运性质。PI和学生计划增加他们对ePIC的参与。该小组将与合作者一起研究和开发用于中心快速桶或电子“向后”快速臂的均匀电磁量热计。该小组计划参加杰斐逊实验室的测试光束运动。EIC的深度非弹性e+A碰撞可以探测到胶子饱和主导胶子运动学的区域。该小组将继续研究提高双粒子方位角相关性对光子-胶子聚变过程的灵敏度的方法。除了物理成果之外，该项目还具有更广泛的影响。作为南达科他州唯一的强力物理实验室，来自该地区的学生有独特的机会接触这种物理。在该小组工作的学生在数学、计算机科学、电气工程和机械工程方面获得了宝贵的经验。有一些以前的学生正在完成他们的工程学位，或者在南达科他州及其周边地区从事技术工作。拟议的分析和检测器测试工作将为当前的学生提供同样的机会，为当前和未来的技术工作做好准备。本项目由核物理项目和促进竞争性研究的既定项目（EPSCoR）共同资助。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award continues the scientific program at Augustana University in Sioux Falls, South Dakota devoted to the study of the strong nuclear force, which is the force responsible for binding protons and neutrons in the nucleus of an atom and for energy generation in the sun. The very early universe was so hot that protons and neutrons did not exist. Instead, a dense soup of quarks and gluons, the fundamental particles that make up the proton and neutron and interact by the strong nuclear force, existed. This state of matter has been recreated in the collisions of heavy nuclei, like gold, at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory. As a member of the sPHENIX collaboration, the Augustana Nuclear Physics group proposes to analyze how high energy particles emerging from the quark-gluon plasma change their energy and direction. Such measurement yields information about the plasma's properties as well as details on the fundamental strong nuclear force interaction. The group is also a member of the ePIC collaboration that is designing the detector for the eventual Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) to be built at Brookhaven. The group will be contributing manpower to studying potential electromagnetic calorimeter technologies to be used. The proposed work is unique in South Dakota and the region and provide physics and pre-engineering students opportunities to be technically trained. They will work with collaborators from around the world and present at national conferences. The project will fund research for undergraduates studying both physics and pre-engineering and provide broad educational benefits. Students will gain practical skills such as computer programming, analysis of large data sets, electrical engineering application, and mechanical engineering design. All these skills are transferable to other vocations of interest to the student, the state, and the nation. Students will participate in weekly collaboration meetings, present at national conferences, and visit collaborating institutions. Such opportunities will build their communication skills, grow their professional network, put them in contact with potential graduate schools, and prepare them for 21st-century technical jobs. This award supports the continuation of the only laboratory in the state of South Dakota dedicated to studying the strong nuclear force. The PI is a member of the sPHENIX collaboration at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and ePIC collaboration at the Electron Ion Collider (EIC), both at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Broadly the PI and his students have focused on using high momentum transfer (Q2) processes, specifically jets, to understand low-Q2 processes. Using sPHENIX Au+Au and p+p data, hadron-jet azimuthal correlations will be measured. Depending on how the jets are binned, these correlations can be sensitive to different aspects of parton energy loss in a quark-gluon plasma (QGP). These measurements take advantage of the high luminosity of RHIC and high DAQ rate of sPHENIX to have a large sample of jets to study the transport properties of the QGP at RHIC. The PI and students plan to increase their participation in ePIC. The group will work alongside collaborators doing research and development work for homogeneous electromagnetic calorimeters for the central rapidity barrel or the electron-going "backward" rapidity arm. The group plans to participate in the Jefferson Lab test beam campaign. Deep inelastic e+A collisions at the EIC can probe a region which may be where gluon saturation dominates gluon kinematics. The group will continue working on ways to increase the sensitivity of two-particle azimuthal correlations to the photon-gluon fusion process. Beyond the physics deliverables, this project has additional broader impacts. Being the single strong-force physics laboratory in the state of South Dakota, students from the region have unique access to this kind of physics. Students that have worked in the group have gained valuable experience in mathematics, computer science, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering. There are former students who are either completing their engineering degrees or in the work force in a technical job in and around South Dakota. The proposed analysis and detector testing work will provide current students with the same opportunities to be ready for current and future technical jobs. This project is jointly funded by Nuclear Physics Program and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).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.