Speaker
Prof.
Carl Gagliardi
(STAR Collaboration)
Description
The STAR Collaboration has identified eight key questions that will drive RHIC science during the coming decade, six of which involve ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions. What is the nature of the initial state in nuclear collisions? What are the properties of the strongly-coupled system produced at RHIC, and how does it thermalize? Are the interactions of energetic partons with QCD matter characterized by weak or strong coupling, and what is the detailed mechanism for partonic energy loss? Where is the QCD critical point and the associated first-order phase transition line? Can we strengthen current evidence for novel symmetries in QCD matter and open new avenues? What exotic particles are created at RHIC? The STAR detector, with its large acceptance tracking, calorimetry, and particle identification, is an ideal tool to explore these questions. Complete answers nonetheless will require detector upgrades. Near-term upgrades, including the Heavy Flavor Tracker and Muon Telescope Detector, will enable a rich program of heavy flavor physics. Upgrades to the forward region will enable detailed studies of the partonic structure of nuclei and the onset of gluon saturation. An additional suite of upgrades during the latter part of the decade will position STAR to make crucial measurements in e+p and e+A collisions during the early phase of eRHIC. The talk will provide an overview of this STAR decadal plan.
Primary author
Prof.
Carl Gagliardi
(STAR Collaboration)
