New particle detector passes the "standard candle" test
7 days ago
- #particle physics
- #quark-gluon plasma
- #Big Bang
- The sPHENIX detector at Brookhaven National Laboratory’s RHIC passed a critical test, proving its precision in measuring high-speed particle collisions.
- Scientists aim to study quark-gluon plasma (QGP), a primordial state of matter believed to have existed microseconds after the Big Bang.
- The detector successfully measured charged particles from gold ion collisions, showing head-on collisions produce 10 times more particles with higher energy.
- sPHENIX is designed to capture rare and subtle signatures of QGP, which exists for only a sextillionth of a second before decaying into ordinary particles.
- The detector, weighing 1,000 tons, can track 15,000 particle collisions per second, aided by MIT-designed components like the MVTX subdetector.
- Future research with sPHENIX will explore QGP properties, particle diffusion in dense matter, and rare collision processes.