RUI:Studies of Relativistic Heavy Ions Collisions in ALICE at the LHC

This award supports research seeking to answer fundamental questions about the origin of the universe by recreating the extreme conditions that existed just a fraction of a second after the Big Bang. By colliding atomic nuclei at nearly the speed of light, the research team explores how the basic building blocks of matter, quarks and gluons, behave when they are squeezed into a hot, dense soup. The PIs and a team of undergraduate students from Chicago State University will collaborate with the international ALICE experiment at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) to build and integrate particle detectors. A key focus of the project is the hands-on development of specialized semiconductors and precision-manufactured components, which involves students in creating the high-tech hardware required for modern physics. Beyond the goal of understanding the composition of matter, this grant supports the development of the American workforce. The PIs will provide students with direct experience in microelectronics and conduct outreach to local high schools to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers. The research team will conduct a program focused on Heavy Ion Collisions within the ALICE experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The project’s primary scientific goal is to investigate the evolution of the gluon density and the potential for gluon saturation in nuclei, providing critical tests of non-linear Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). To achieve this, the PIs and students will support the Fast Interaction Trigger and contribute to the construction of the Forward Calorimeter (FoCal) and the Muon Identifier (MID). These efforts are heavily reliant on semiconductor technology, which will be used by the FoCal detector to achieve high-granularity measurements and pointing resolution with silicon-tungsten sampling and silicon pixel sensors. Furthermore, the project emphasizes advanced manufacturing through partnerships with industry or national labs to fabricate specialized scintillators and optimize detector design via precision prototyping for the MID. The PIs will also develop artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) tools for real-time data processing and signal discrimination for the physics analysis of large data sets from ALICE or Monte Carlo simulations. This work is expected to advance the field of nuclear physics by providing new experimental access to high-energy heavy-ion collisions and by strengthening institutional research infrastructure through international collaboration and the development of high-tech hardware. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.