Nuclear Physics
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| A heavy ion collision from the STAR experiment at RHIC |
| image courtesy of the STAR Collaboration. |
Nuclear theorists at the University of Minnesota seek to understand the properties of dense matter under the conditions present in the early universe, in stars, and during supernovae. Data from experiments which collide nuclei at high energy, such as those at Brookhaven's Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and soon at CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC), can be compared to theoretical calculations and numerical simulations to understand the dynamics of nuclear matter under extreme conditions. Theoretical effort is directed at investigating the nature of these interactions and their implications for understanding quantum chromodynamics (QCD), particularly quark-gluon plasma. Another major thrust is the study of supernova physics, including the explosion mechanism, nucleosynthesis of medium and heavy elements, and neutrino oscillation effects.
Professor Joseph Kapusta investigates matter at high energy-density. He uses relativistic quantum field theory to study high energy nuclear collisions at RHIC and LHC, phase transitions in the early universe, dense matter in neutron stars, primordial/microscopic black holes, Hawking radiation, and the anti-de Sitter space conformal field theory correspondence
Professor Yong-Zhong Qian has interests that lie at the intersection of nuclear physics and astrophysics. He studies the detailed mechanism by which the medium and heavy elements are formed in stars and in stellar explosions. He also studies neutrinos, their oscillations, and the role they play in supernovae.
The newest member of the group is Professor Alexander Heger who will arrive in the summer of 2008. He has broad interests in nuclear astrophysics, particularly nucleosynthesis in the earliest stars.
Nuclear Physics Faculty
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