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What was the universe like microseconds after the Big Bang? Can you catch an elusive neutrino in a watery liquid? What features will the world's newest ultra-bright light source reveal? Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory and physicists closely following research there will present talks addressing these questions at the April 2012 meeting of the American Physical Society, March 31 - April 3, at the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta, GA.
Several talks will present recent analyses of data and discussion of results from the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC, http://www.bnl.gov/rhic/), an "atom smasher" at Brookhaven Lab that recreates conditions of the very early universe to explore the fundamental properties and interactions of matter. These talks will include new details about the nature of the "perfect" liquid quark-gluon plasma produced at RHIC.
Saturday, March 31, 1:30 PM-2:06 PM, Grand Hall East A/B
Interpreting Jet Results from RHIC and LHC
Bjoern Schenke, Brookhaven National Laboratory
Explorations of how particle "jets" get "stuck" in the strongly coupled
hydrodynamic matter (a.k.a. "perfect" liquid) produced in heavy ion
collisions at RHIC and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Europe,
including computations that allow a direct link of theoretical
calculations to experimental observables.
http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/APR12/Event/169514
Saturday, March 31, 2:42 PM-3:18 PM, Grand Hall East A/B
Recent Finite Temperature Lattice Results
Alexei Bazavov, Brookhaven National Laboratory
How lattice calculations are used to analyze hard-scattering processes
that probe the properties and evolution of RHIC's quark-gluon plasma and
inform our general understanding of the thermodynamics of quantum
chromodynamics, the theory that describes quark-gluon interactions via the
strong force.
http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/APR12/Event/169516
Monday, April 2, 1:30 PM-2:06 PM, Embassy C
The Physics of Strong Color Fields in Nucleons and Nuclei at High Energies
Raju Venugopalan, Brookhaven National Laboratory
Why exploring the properties of the strong color fields that emerge in
ions accelerated to near light speed at RHIC is essential to complete our
understanding of what happens to quark-gluon matter in heavy ion
collisions.
http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/APR12/Event/170255
Monday, April 2, 4:06 PM-4:42 PM, Grand Hall East A/B
RHIC Results on the Energy Dependence of Flow Fluctuations at all Harmonics
Paul Sorensen, Brookhaven National Laboratory
How the geometry of the initial interaction of colliding ions at RHIC
influences resulting particle correlations and "flow," from energies well
below the threshold for transition to quark-gluon plasma to well above
that threshold. http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/APR12/Event/170968
Tuesday, April 3, 2012, 8:30 AM-9:06 AM, Regency Ballroom VI-VII (Plenary
Session III)
The Hottest, and Most Liquid, Liquid in the Universe
Krishna Rajagopal, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
A theorist's perspective on the "hot quark soup" of the early universe
produced at RHIC and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Europe, its
relation to ultra-cold atomic gases, and mathematical approaches derived
from string theory being used to describe these seemingly unrelated
extremes.
http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/APR12/Event/170497
In addition to these talks showcasing RHIC physics, there will be presentations on neutrino physics and the design and capabilities of National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II, http://www.bnl.gov/ps/nsls2/about-NSLS-II.asp), a new light source with world-leading brightness now under construction at Brookhaven Lab.
Saturday, March 31, 2:42 PM-3:18 PM, Regency Ballroom V
A New Water-Based Liquid Scintillator for Large Neutrino Physics
Minfang Yeh, Brookhaven National Laboratory
Highlights of the concept, preparation, and properties of a new type of
scintillating liquid based on water, and how it could be used for a very
large, but economical detector for applications ranging from fundamental
physics, to neutrino physics, to neutron detection.
http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/APR12/Event/169448
Sunday, April 1, 11 AM, Press Briefing Room (Auburn Room)
Update on Latest Results from the Daya Bay Neutrino Experiment
APS will host a press conference featuring scientists who recently
announced the first results from the Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment,
including the discovery of a new kind of neutrino transformation
(http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/pubaf/pr/PR_display.asp?prID=1395). Scientists
from Brookhaven National Laboratory play multiple roles in this
international project, including project management, data analysis, and
perfecting the recipe for the chemically stable liquid that fills part of
Daya Bay's detectors. Reporters who wish to participate remotely can call
the APS conference call line at 800-944-8766 (enter passcode 79886#).
Monday, April 2, 2:42 PM-3:18 PM, International Ballroom South
Ultra-Bright Storage Ring Light Sources
Ferdinand Willeke, Brookhaven National Laboratory
How the next generation of light sources, including NSLS-II, now under
construction at Brookhaven National Laboratory, will provide nanoscale
resolution and enable advances in a wide range of scientific fields
including energy, environmental science, and biomedicine.
http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/APR12/Event/170253
All of this research is supported in large part by the DOE Office of Science.
DOE's Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit http://science.energy.gov/.
One of ten national laboratories overseen and primarily funded by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Brookhaven National Laboratory conducts research in the physical, biomedical, and environmental sciences, as well as in energy technologies and national security. Brookhaven Lab also builds and operates major scientific facilities available to university, industry and government researchers. Brookhaven is operated and managed for DOE's Office of Science by Brookhaven Science Associates, a limited-liability company founded by the Research Foundation of State University of New York on behalf of Stony Brook University, the largest academic user of Laboratory facilities, and Battelle, a nonprofit, applied science and technology organization. Visit Brookhaven Lab's electronic newsroom for links, news archives, graphics, and more at http://www.bnl.gov/newsroom, or follow Brookhaven Lab on Twitter, http://twitter.com/BrookhavenLab.
This media advisory and related images are available online at:
http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/pubaf/pr/PR_display.asp?prID=1403
Karen McNulty Walsh, kmcnulty@bnl.gov, (631) 344-8350
Peter Genzer, genzer@bnl.gov, (631) 344-3174
James Riordon, riordon@aps.org, (301) 209-3238
