Heavy Ion Physics at the LHC & RHIC Heavy Ion Physics at the LHC & RHIC - -

Recreating the Big Bang in the Recreating the Big Bang in the LaboratoryLaboratoryRene BellwiedRene Bellwied

(for the Bellwied/Pinsky group)(for the Bellwied/Pinsky group)

University of HoustonUniversity of Houston(bellwied@uh.edu)(bellwied@uh.edu)

T in the universe:3 K = -454oF

Cosmic wavebackground map

Matter in the Universe - a problem of galactic proportionsMatter in the Universe - a problem of galactic proportionsBullet Cluster, 3.4 Billion Lightyears from Earth Bullet Cluster, 3.4 Billion Lightyears from Earth

X-ray image vs. gravitational lensingX-ray image vs. gravitational lensing

Cluster contents by mass:

~ 2% galaxies

~ 13% hot gas

~ 85% dark matter

Dark and visible matter are close together ? Formed in same process ?

Matter in the UniverseMatter in the UniverseElectronsorbiting

Atom

nucleus

Atomic nucleus

quarksNeutrons & Protons

100 trillionths (10-10) meter

.01 trillionths (10-14) meter

.001 trillionths (10-15) meter (also gluons!)

Strong color fieldForce grows with separation !!!

Forces get weaker with distance…..exceptForces get weaker with distance…..exceptto study structure of an atom…

“white” proton

…separate constituents

Imagine our understanding of atoms or QED if we could not isolate charged objects!!

nucleus

electron

quark

quark-antiquark paircreated from vacuum

“white” proton(confined quarks)

“white” 0

(confined quarks)

Confinement: fundamental & crucial (but not understood!) feature of strong force- colored objects (quarks) have energy in normal vacuum

neutral atom

To understand the strong force and the phenomenon of confinement:Create and study a system of deconfined colored quarks (and gluons)

F ~ 1/r2

F ~ r

Let’s go back in time to when matter Let’s go back in time to when matter was formed – but how ?was formed – but how ?

It’s -454It’s -454ooF out there nowF out there now

Assume that the universe expands homogenously and Assume that the universe expands homogenously and simply run the expansion backwards (compression) at a simply run the expansion backwards (compression) at a compression rate set by the Hubble constantcompression rate set by the Hubble constant

Volume goes down

Pressure goes up

Temperature goes up

Energy goes up

Going back in time…Going back in time…

AgeAge Energy Energy Matter in universe Matter in universe 00 10101919 GeV GeV grand unified theory of all forcesgrand unified theory of all forces

1010-35-35 s s 10101414 GeV GeV 11stst phase transition phase transition (strong: q,g + electroweak: g, l,n)(strong: q,g + electroweak: g, l,n)

1010-10-10 ss 101022 GeV GeV 22ndnd phase transition phase transition(strong: q,g + electro: g + weak: l,n)(strong: q,g + electro: g + weak: l,n)

1010-5-5 s s 0.2 GeV0.2 GeV 33rdrd phase transition phase transition protons/neutronsprotons/neutrons(strong:hadrons + electro:g + weak: l,n)(strong:hadrons + electro:g + weak: l,n)

3 min.3 min. 0.1 MeV0.1 MeV nucleinuclei

6*106*1055 years years 0.3 eV0.3 eVatomsatoms

Now Now 3*103*10-4-4 eV = 3 K (13.7 billion years) eV = 3 K (13.7 billion years)

RHIC & LHCFRIB & FAIR

phases of matter form whenever energy phases of matter form whenever energy is low enough for them to surviveis low enough for them to survive

The first second of the universe

The The RRelativistic elativistic HHeavy eavy IIon on CColliderollider

RHIC BRAHMSPHOBOSPHENIX

STAR

AGS

TANDEMS

3.8 km circle

v = 0.99995

speed of light

Gold nuclei each with 197 protons + neutrons are acceleratedBeams cross the experimental area 100,000 times each second !

ea

The The

ExperimentExperiment

STARSTAR

~ 550 collaborators48 institutions10 countries

~100 grad. students

Cost for RHIC:~ $550 MillionCost for STAR:~ $50 Million

Took 10 years tobuild

Completed in 2000

First beam in 2009Heavy ions in 2010

Geneva with Large Hadron Collider Geneva with Large Hadron Collider SuperimposedSuperimposed

Speed: 99.9995%

1100 collaborators, 200 graduate students

Study all phases of a heavy ion collisionStudy all phases of a heavy ion collision

If the QGP was formed, it will only live for 10-21 s !!!!BUT does matter come out of this phase the same way it went in ???

So what do we hope for ?So what do we hope for ?a.) Re-create the conditions as close as possible a.) Re-create the conditions as close as possible to the Big Bang, i.e. a condition of maximum to the Big Bang, i.e. a condition of maximum density and minimum volume in an expanding density and minimum volume in an expanding macroscopic system. macroscopic system. Measure a phase transitionMeasure a phase transition, characterize the new , characterize the new phase, measure the de-excitation of the new phase phase, measure the de-excitation of the new phase into ‘ordinary’ matter – into ‘ordinary’ matter – ‘do we come out the way ‘do we come out the way went in ?’went in ?’

b.) b.) How do the particles (ordinary matter) form ? How do the particles (ordinary matter) form ? How do they attain their mass ?How do they attain their mass ?

c.) c.) Does Dark Matter form at the same time ?Does Dark Matter form at the same time ?

d.) d.) Do Black Holes form ? Are they related to Do Black Holes form ? Are they related to Dark Matter or Dark Energy ?Dark Matter or Dark Energy ?

e.) e.) Does matter separate from anti-matter ?Does matter separate from anti-matter ?

An example:An example:Probing the medium with fast particlesProbing the medium with fast particles

p

p

?

Au+Au

idea: use p+p collisions (no medium)as reference

?: what happens in Au+Au to particles which pass through medium?

Prediction: density in fireball is sohigh that particles get stuck.

Measure properties of medium from the interaction of particles with medium.

STAR, nucl-ex/0305015

energyloss

pQCD + Shadowing + Cronin

pQCD + Shadowing + Cronin + Energy Loss

High momentum particles get stuck !High momentum particles get stuck !

The system is very dense. Too dense to be made of protons and neutrons !

SYSTEM NEEDS TO BE MADE OF QUARKS & GLUONS

The deposited energy density is enormous, at least 5 GeV/fm3

Lessons from Lessons from RHIC: RHIC:

The Quark The Quark SoupSoup

AIP ScienceAIP ScienceStory of 2006Story of 2006

The early universe The early universe behaves like a behaves like a

perfect liquid not like perfect liquid not like a gas or plasmaa gas or plasma

400 times less viscous than water,10 times less viscous than superfluid helium !

Lessons from Lessons from RHIC: RHIC:

The Anti-MatterThe Anti-MatterFactoryFactory

AIP ScienceAIP ScienceStory of 2011Story of 2011

Antimatter forms Antimatter forms molecules just like molecules just like

mattermatter

Discovery of Anti-Helium-4 Discovery of Anti-Helium-4 (Nature 473, 353 (2011))(Nature 473, 353 (2011))

collision evolution

particle detectors

collision overlap zone

QGP phasequark and gluon

degrees of freedom

~ 10 fm/c

hadronization

kineticfreeze-out

lumpy initial energy density

0~1 fm/c ~ 0 fm/c

distributions and

correlations of produced particles

quantum fluctuations

Heavy-ion Collisions: Rapid Expansion

expansion and cooling

The Universe: Slow Expansion

credit: NASA

Where are we going ? Collectivity causes correlationsWhere are we going ? Collectivity causes correlationsCan the structures in the Quark Soup explain galaxies ?Can the structures in the Quark Soup explain galaxies ?

particle distributionin and

Our teamOur team

Professors: Anthony Timmins, Larry Pinsky, Rene Bellwied Postdocs: Francesco Blanco, Michael Weber Students: Chanaka DeSilva, Badrajee Piyarathna, Sandun

Jayarathna

Talk to us: Suite 406, 4th floor, SR1 Building

Call us: 713-743-3548

Email us: bellwied@uh.edu