NPA Seminar, Benjamin Kimelman, UC Davis, “Phase Transitions and Where to Find Them: Probing the QCD Phase Diagram with Heavy-Ion Collisions”

Abstract: Relativistic heavy-ion collisions are a unique tool that allow us to probe QCD and its fundamental interactions; of particular interest is the phase transition between a hadron gas and a quark-gluon plasma (QGP). Characterizing this phase transition and mapping out the QCD phase diagram have been some of the primary goals of relativistic heavy-ion collisions over the past two decades. This talk will cover the background of the QGP and discuss a selection of the important observations over the past 22 years of RHIC operations relating to the QCD phase diagram. From this, we will discuss measurements from Phase-II of the RHIC Beam Energy Scan, focusing on results from the lowest energy in this program: $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=3$ GeV. Measurements of charged hadron spectra will be presented and their impact on our understanding of the QCD phase diagram will be discussed.
There will be a luncheon with the speaker from 12-1 p.m. in WL-216. Lunch will be provided for people on a first-come, first-served basis for people who RSVP by 2 p.m. on Thursday, June 30th: https://tinyurl.com/npa-signup
Please email the host for the Zoom connection information.
Host: Laura Havener, laura.havener@yale.edu