The Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC) at BNL has played a central role in establishing the quark–gluon plasma (QGP) as a strongly coupled form of QCD matter that behaves collectively as a near-perfect liquid. Its major achievements have transformed the field of nuclear physics and raised profound new questions in the study of QCD. These include how rapid thermalization can occur, what is the microscopic mechanism of a strongly coupled QCD fluid, and the nature of the QCD phase transition.
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) extends heavy-ion studies into a higher-energy regime characterized by a hotter, longer-lived medium, with copious production of hard probes. These conditions have enabled unique opportunities for observables that are statistically limited or detector-constrained at RHIC, including high-energy jets, heavy-flavor production over a broad momentum range, precision quarkonia measurements, and electroweak probes. Such measurements play a key role in answering the aforementioned questions.
As the LHC heavy-ion program continues through the 2030s with upgraded detectors and increased luminosity at the HL-LHC, it will complement the RHIC science program by extending precision studies of QCD matter to new kinematic regimes. Sustained U.S. participation enables the community to maintain and build on expertise developed at RHIC and the LHC, while contributing to detector operation, upgrades, and advanced analysis capabilities required for discovery-level measurements of emergent QCD phenomena.
Such activities are closely aligned with the major goals of the Electron–Ion Collider (EIC), both in terms of studies of underlying QCD dynamics and in sharing technologies for next-generation detectors. Insights into the microscopic structure and collective behavior of strongly interacting QCD matter, gained from heavy-ion and small-system studies at the LHC, provide a key foundation for understanding the internal quark-gluon structure of protons and nuclei, searches for gluon saturation, and the dynamics behind confinement.
With RHIC concluding operations this year, this meeting aims to gather input from the U.S. heavy-ion community to develop a vision that sustains our leadership in nuclear physics, including completion of the RHIC science mission, ongoing contributions to the HL-LHC heavy-ion program, and the evolution of our field to support and advance EIC physics.
Dennis Perepelitsa and Anthony Timmins (chairs of the program committee)
