The First Second: Decoding the Nature of the Universe with a Culturally Diverse Workforce

费尔南多·A·弗洛尔被授予美国国家科学基金会数学和物理科学提升博士后研究奖学金，以在耶鲁大学开展研究和教育项目。弗洛尔将利用瑞士日内瓦欧洲核子研究中心的爱丽丝实验数据和纽约长岛布鲁克海文国家实验室的恒星实验数据，开发早期宇宙中复合粒子形成的模型。这两个实验都是利用重离子的碰撞来在极高的温度下产生夸克胶子等离子体(QGP)的小液滴，这种温度模拟了早期宇宙的条件，大约在大爆炸后一秒。这项研究的目的是了解QGP失去能量并形成成为正常物质的中子和质子的机制，以及不同夸克如何影响这一机制。此外，弗洛尔还将把休斯顿大学的NuSTEAM努力扩展到耶鲁大学，该努力将休斯顿大学的本科生与布鲁克海文国家实验室连接起来。相对论重离子碰撞作为一面镜子，用于探测和理解宇宙早期出现的夸克和胶子之间强相互作用的机制。该项目的目的有三个：1.为了阐明在大爆炸后一秒内产生物质强相互作用的主导机制。在实验重离子物理学社区内建立一个可持续和包容各方的教学推广平台，使未被充分代表的少数群体能够在其学术生涯早期进入该领域。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。

Fernando A. Flor is awarded an NSF Mathematical and Physical Sciences Ascending Postdoctoral Research Fellowship to conduct a program of research and education at Yale University. Flor will develop models of the formation of composite particles in the early universe using data from the ALICE experiment at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland and from the STAR experiment at Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island, New York. Both experiments use collisions of heavy ions to produce small droplets of Quark Gluon Plasma (QGP) at extremely high temperatures that mimic the conditions of the early universe, about one second after the Big Bang. The goal of the research is to understand the mechanism by which the QGP loses energy and forms the neutrons and protons that become normal matter, and how that mechanism is affected by different quarks. In addition, Flor will expand the University of Houston NuSTEAM effort, which connects University of Houston undergraduates with Brookhaven National Laboratory, to Yale University.Relativistic heavy ion collisions serve as a looking glass for probing and understanding the mechanisms governing the strong interaction between quarks and gluons emerging at the early stages of the Universe.The purpose of this project is threefold:1.) To elucidate the reigning mechanisms generating the strong interaction of matter present one second after the Big Bang.2.) To produce a sustainable and inclusive pedagogical outreach platform within the Experimental Heavy ion Physics community through which underrepresented minorities gain access to the field early in their academic careers.3.) To generate a paradigm focused on the overall ascent of underrepresented minority groups into the scientific community.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.