The sPHENIX detector passed calibration, paving the way to study quark-gluon plasma and unlock secrets of the early universe.
Brookhaven’s sPHENIX is ready to probe quark-gluon plasma from the early universe
Photo Credit: Brookhaven National Laboratory
A new tool has been developed by scientists to study the early universe. After passing a critical "standard candle" calibration, the sPHENIX detector at Brookhaven's Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) is prepared to detect the remains of quark-gluon plasma, the hot, dense "primordial soup" that flooded the universe immediately following the Big Bang. This plasma is momentarily recreated at Brookhaven's RHIC by smashing heavy gold ions at almost the speed of light. This achievement opens the door to in-depth research on these remnants of the Big Bang.
According to the research, sPHENIX proved its precision by smashing gold ions at near-light speed and tallying the resulting particles. It measured head-on versus grazing collisions, finding ten times more particles (and ten times the energy) in straight-on impacts. This 'standard candle' test confirmed the detector was working as designed.
The two-story, 1,000-ton detector surrounds RHIC's beams. It can record 15,000 collisions per second, acting like a 3D camera that tracks each particle's energy and trajectory. Scientists compare it to launching a new space telescope taking its first picture, showing sPHENIX is ready for new discoveries.
The quark-gluon plasma (QGP), a fluid of quarks and gluons that filled the early universe, is momentarily recreated by RHIC collisions. After cooling and condensing into protons and neutrons, this QGP disappears almost immediately (between 10 and 22 seconds). Only QGP's decay products, or "ashes," which sPHENIX will measure to reconstruct the plasma's properties, can be seen on their own.
Researchers intend to gain new understanding of the origin of matter by examining these particles in order to determine how dense the primordial soup was and how particles spread through it. In essence, physicists may be able to reconstruct conditions in the universe's early microseconds by dissecting these "ashes."
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