Speaker
Description
sPHENIX is the next generation heavy ion physics experiment designed to collect a suite of unique jet and Upsilon observables with unprecedented statistics and kinematic reach at RHIC. The sPHENIX inner most tracking detector, MVTX (MAPS-based vertex detector), will provide a precise determination of the impact parameter of tracks to the primary vertex in high multiplicity heavy ion collisions. The MVTX utilizes the next generation fast Monolithic Active Pixel Sensor technology to provide precision tracking with high tracking efficiency over a broad momentum range at high luminosity environment envisioned at RHIC. These new capabilities enable precision measurements of open heavy flavor observables, covering an unexplored kinematic regime at RHIC, in particular the nuclear modification and flow of $b$-jets and $B$-mesons, which collectively cover a wide transverse momentum range of 2--35~GeV$/c$. Together with the light-quark observables, these $b$-quark probes will provide essential information to complete the microscopic description of QGP at RHIC energies. The physics program and detector development of MVTX will be discussed in this talk.
