RUI: Studying the Strong Nuclear Force at Augustana University

该奖项延续了位于南达科他州苏福尔斯的奥古斯塔纳大学致力于研究强核力的科学计划，强核力是一种负责将质子和中子结合在原子核中并在太阳中产生能量的力。早期的宇宙非常热，质子和中子都不存在。相反，存在着一种由夸克和胶子组成的稠密的汤，它们是构成质子和中子的基本粒子，并通过强核力相互作用。布鲁克海文国家实验室的相对论重离子对撞机（RHIC）在重核（如金）的碰撞中重新创造了这种物质状态。作为sPHENIX合作的成员，奥古斯塔纳核物理小组提议分析从夸克-胶子等离子体中出现的高能粒子如何改变它们的能量和方向。这种测量产生了关于等离子体性质的信息，以及基本强核力相互作用的细节。该小组也是ePIC合作的成员，该合作正在为布鲁克海文最终建造的电子离子对撞机（EIC）设计探测器。该小组将贡献人力研究潜在的电磁热量计技术。拟议的工作是独一无二的南达科他州和该地区，并提供物理和工程预科学生的机会，进行技术培训。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，大型数据集分析，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，出席全国会议，并访问合作机构。这样的机会将培养他们的沟通能力，发展他们的专业网络，让他们与潜在的研究生院联系，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。PI是布鲁克海文国家实验室相对论重离子对撞机（RHIC）的sPHENIX合作和电子离子对撞机（EIC）的ePIC合作的成员。广泛地说，PI和他的学生专注于使用高动量传递（Q2）过程，特别是射流，以了解低Q2过程。利用sPHENIX Au+Au和p+p数据，将测量强子喷注方位角相关。取决于喷流的分组方式，这些关联对夸克胶子等离子体（QGP）中部分子能量损失的不同方面都很敏感。这些测量利用了RHIC的高亮度和sPHENIX的高DAQ速率，以获得大的喷流样本来研究RHIC上QGP的输运性质。PI和学生计划增加他们在ePIC中的参与。该小组将与合作者一起为中央快度桶或电子运动的“向后”快度臂进行均匀电磁量能器的研究和开发工作。该小组计划参加杰斐逊实验室的测试束活动。在EIC的深度非弹性e+A碰撞可以探测一个区域，该区域可能是胶子饱和主导胶子运动学的区域。该小组将继续研究如何提高两粒子方位角关联对光子-胶子融合过程的灵敏度。除了物理学可交付成果外，该项目还有更广泛的影响。作为南达科他州唯一的强作用力物理实验室，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。在南达科他州及其周边地区，有一些以前的学生正在完成他们的工程学位或从事技术工作。拟议的分析和检测器测试工作将为当前的学生提供相同的机会，为当前和未来的技术工作做好准备。该项目由核物理计划和刺激竞争性研究的既定计划（EPSCoR）共同资助。该奖项反映了NSF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.