Quark Gluon Plasmas Saturday Physics Series University of

Quark Gluon Plasmas Saturday Physics Series University of Colorado at Boulder March 19, 2005 Professor Jamie Nagle Department of Physics

Over 14 billion years ago, our universe began with the Big Bang. Back then the universe was very, very hot.

212 degrees Fahrenheit Boiling temperature for water – well not quite in Boulder.

Already at these temperatures, interesting things are happening. solid liquid gas

2200 degrees Fahrenheit Molten rock from volcanoes.

10 million degrees Fahrenheit. Temperature at the Center of the Sun. Very interesting nuclear processes going on there.

10 trillion degrees Fahrenheit. 10, 000, 000 Temperature a fraction of a second after the Big Bang! What happens at temperatures like these?

Start with the Basics Atoms are the basic building blocks. They are made from a positively charged nucleus with neutrons and protons and negatively charged electrons in orbit. Helium Atom Oxygen Nucleus

Alchemy Different elements have properties dictated by the number of orbit electrons which is equal to the number of protons in the nucleus (to make a neutral atom). People have wanted to change Lead (Pb) into Gold (Au) for a long time.

Chain Reaction Nuclear fission reactions can produce energy. If they produce two neutrons, these neutrons can induce more reactions and thus create a chain reaction. Nuclear fission n + 235 U 140 Ce + 94 Zr + n Each reaction frees about 10 -11 Joules. But 200 grams of Uranium has 1023 atoms.

Much Higher Energy If we collide nuclei at much higher energy, they no longer chain react. No $, but probably a good thing. What happens to nuclear matter at the highest temperatures? We don’t just change lead to gold. We can see what is inside the protons and neutrons.

Quarks are Inside Proton (charge = +1) Neutron (charge = 0) 2 up quarks (+2/3 charge) 1 down quark (-1/3 charge) 1 up quarks (+2/3 charge) 2 down quark (-1/3 charge) “Three quarks on a lark. ” James Joyce Up Down Strange Charm Bottom Top

Outline • What are the goals of our experiments? • How do we conduct these experiments? • Can we make $ from what we find? • Do we learn something fundamental? • Will we destroy the world in the process?

Phase Transition Odd observation in nature. We never see free individual quarks. They are always in groups like in protons (3). Quarks held together by strong force. Has property like springs !

Transitions of the Early Universe • Post Inflation, radiation yields quark-gluon plasma. • Six microseconds after the Big Bang, all quarks and gluons are confined into hadrons. • One second later, light nuclei are formed. • 300, 000 years later, atoms are formed.

A Short Flight Away…. . .

Nuclear Collider

Gold + Gold Collisions We accelerate Gold nuclear up to 99. 995% the speed of light. Then we collide two beams to convert the massive kinetic energy into heat to create a small quark plasma. Time Evolution

Plasma Explodes and Cools

Complex Detectors

Brazil China France University of São Paulo, São Paulo Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan China Institute of Atomic Energy, Beijing Peking University, Beijing LPC, University de Clermont-Ferrand, Clermont-Ferrand Dapnia, CEA Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette IPN-Orsay, Universite Paris Sud, CNRS-IN 2 P 3, Orsay LLR, Ecole Polytechnique, CNRS-IN 2 P 3, Palaiseau SUBATECH, Ecole des Mines de Nantes, CNRS-IN 2 P 3, Univ. Nantes Germany University of Münster, Münster Hungary Central Research Institute for Physics (KFKI), Budapest Debrecen University, Debrecen Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), Budapest India Banaras Hindu University, Banaras Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Bombay Israel Weizmann Institute, Rehovot Japan Center for Nuclear Study, University of Tokyo, Tokyo Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima KEK, Institute for High Energy Physics, Tsukuba Kyoto University, Kyoto 12 Countries; 57 Institutions; 460 Participants Nagasaki Institute of Applied Science, Nagasaki RIKEN, Institute for Physical and Chemical Research, Wako RIKEN-BNL Research Center, Upton, NY USA Abilene Christian University, Abilene, TX Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo University of California - Riverside, CA Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba University of Colorado, Boulder, CO Waseda University, Tokyo Columbia University, Nevis Laboratories, Irvington, NY S. Korea Cyclotron Application Laboratory, KAERI, Seoul Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL Kangnung National University, Kangnung Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA Korea University, Seoul University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, IL Myong Ji University, Yongin City Iowa State University and Ames Laboratory, Ames, IA System Electronics Laboratory, Seoul Nat. University, Seoul Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM Yonsei University, Seoul Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA Russia Institute of High Energy Physics, Protovino University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM Kurchatov Institute, Moscow Dept. of Chemistry, Stony Brook Univ. , Stony Brook, NY PNPI, St. Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute, St. Petersburg Dept. Phys. and Astronomy, Stony Brook Univ. , Stony Brook, NY St. Petersburg State Technical University, St. Petersburg Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN Sweden Lund University, Lund University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN

Scale of the Project Collect the Data!

Cutting Edge Digital Electronics We designed and built 400 custom data processor boards that receive over 50 Gigabits of data per second. Programmed Analog Devices SHARC processors. Biggest market user of SHARC processors are Gameboys. We are prototyping a new trigger processor this year using ALTERA’s latest programmable gate array chip.

First Collisions: June 15, 2000

Creating Black Holes? Can be dismissed with some basic General Relativity • The Schwarzschild radius of a heavy ion collision: much less than Planck length ! • Radius of Au+Au collision compressed by x 100: Even if it could form, it would evaporate by Hawking Radiation in 10 -83 seconds !

Science in the Media Science Fiction - in this book, experiments including PHENIX and STAR study collisions which accidentally create baby universes. Journalists - when JFK Jr. ’s flight disappeared, reporters called Brookhaven to ask if a black hole created at RHIC could have eaten the plane.

Probe the Plasma we want to study Calibrated Light Meter Calibrated LASER Calibrated Heat Source

Jet Physics Jet = a quark that tries to escape. Eventually the “spring” breaks into a shower of particles. Schematic View of Jet Production hadrons leading particle q q hadrons leading particle OPAL Event Display

Quark is the Probe A quark trying to escape through the plasma loses energy by scattering with the surrounding quarks. We can look for a suppression of particles from jets. q q

Jet Quenching Indication of opaque medium and quark energy loss.