Center of Excellence in Quark Matter (QM)


Main funder

Funder's project number346325


Funds granted by main funder (€)

  • 459 769,00


Funding program


Project timetable

Project start date01/01/2022

Project end date31/12/2024


Summary

The Center of Excellence studies the strong interaction between quarks and gluons, which is described by the theory of Quantum
Chromodynamics, QCD. The goal is to understand how these degrees of freedom become visible in high energy collider experiments,
especially in cases where strong collective interactions indicate the creation of deconfined quark matter, quark-gluon plasma. Important
research questions include
- Can we experimentally verify the existence of a nonlinear gluon saturation regime in high energy interaction predicted by quantum
field theory? What are the limits of a linear, perturbative description in terms of collinear parton distributions?
- Can one extend hydrodynamics to collective behavior in systems of as few as only hundreds or only tens of particles?
- What are values of viscosities and other transport coefficients of QCD matter, so far poorly known fundamental properties of nature?
The CoE consists of three theoretical and two experimental research teams. The members of the theory teams in the CoE study
questions related to high energy collisions of hadrons and especially nuclei. They are active in both fundamental theory development
and phenomenological research at the forefront of the field. Their research is relevant for understanding measurements at the Large
Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN and at the Electron-Ion Collider EIC, a electron-proton and electron-ion collider in construction
during the CoE period. The experimental teams are a part of the ALICE collaboration, which operates one of the major LHC detectors,
specializing in studying the properties of the quark-gluon plasma.
The particular strength of this CoE unit is its focused and compact nature. The CoE develops a new operational approach, where the
major questions in the field are addressed through a close connection between theoretical and experimerimental teams, in a way that is
unique at the global scale.


Principal Investigator


Primary responsible unit


Follow-up groups

Profiling areaAccelerator and Subatomic Physics (University of Jyväskylä JYU)


Related publications and other outputs


Last updated on 2024-17-04 at 13:01