Undergraduate Physics Seminar: "Probing trillion-degree matter using zero-degree calorimetry at the LHC," Henry Bonzak
- Sponsor
- Department of Physics
- Speaker
- Henry Bonzak
- Contact
- Refia Caliskan
- hcali@illinois.edu
- Views
- 9
- Originating Calendar
- Physics - Undergraduate Student Events
In the early 2000’s, the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC) published results showing evidence of a new state of matter known as the quark-gluon plasma (QGP). The QGP is a hot (~2 trillion degrees Kelvin), dense soup of deconfined quarks and gluons which behaves like a low-viscosity fluid. Now, at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and—until very recently—RHIC, the QGP continues to be studied in high-energy nuclei-nuclei collisions. Integral to probing the QGP, zero-degree calorimeters (ZDCs) are used to distinguish physics processes in heavy-ion collisions through detecting spectator neutrons.
This talk will contain an overview of the QGP physics still being done at these large collider experiments and the use of zero degree calorimetry in the nuclei-nuclei collisions. The talk will also cover the ongoing R&D efforts at UIUC for the upcoming high-luminosity upgrade to the ATLAS experiment ZDCs. Looking forward to the high-luminosity era of the LHC, the upgrade to the ATLAS detector offers exciting opportunities to study the QGP. However, the increased luminosity poses a design challenge for the high-luminosity ZDCs which will need to withstand higher radiation doses.
Join via Zoom: https://illinois.zoom.us/j/84701225497?pwd=Xln6ZCKraIhgRswrUDdn1NfpTlOK4A