Dr. George S F Stephans

Using collisions of atomic nuclei at extremely high speeds to study the properties of nuclear matter at very high temperature and density.

These studies have included a long sequence of experiments over many years including:
(*) E802/859/866/917 at the AGS accelerator at Brookhaven National Lab
(*) Phobos at the RHIC collider at Brookhaven National Lab
(*) CMS at the LHC collider at CERN

The goal is to further our understanding of Quantum ChromoDynamics (QCD), the basic theory of the so-called strong interaction which binds protons and neutrons in nuclei, or to be more precise the interaction between quarks and gluons, the constituents of almost all sub-atomic particles. QCD theory had predicted the formation of a new state of matter, the Quark Gluon Plasma, at sufficiently high temperature or density. Experiments at RHIC, including Phobos, have verified the existence of this exotic matter but also revealed that many of its properties were very different from expectations. Experiments at RHIC and the LHC are continuing the exploration of this novel and puzzling state of matter.