The strong force is responsible for confining quarks into stable forms of nuclear matter. However, at sufficient temperatures and densities, the interaction between quarks and gluons becomes weaker, allowing them to exist in a deconfined state known as the quark-gluon plasma (QGP). This substance is thought to have filled the early universe moments after the Big Bang, but remains elusive to conventional astrophysical techniques. The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) operated between 2000 and 2026, and was capable of reaching temperatures and densities necessary to form QGP. Over RHIC's lifetime, experiments there first glimpsed how heavy flavor particles interact with the QGP medium, before successive detector upgrades, such as the sPHENIX experiment and the iTPC at STAR, allowed for the collection of data sets that enable precision measurements using these particles. Heavy flavor particles, which contain charm and bottom quarks, are especially valuable in studying the QGP because their masses are above both the QCD scale and the critical temperature of the plasma. This means that they are produced in the initial collision, then experience the QGP's entire evolution, making them sensitive probes of its properties throughout its lifetime.
While RHIC has ended operations, the physics mission is ongoing with many precision measurements in store for the future. These measurements will set the stage for the future Electron-Ion Collider which will be situated at the former RHIC site. By utilizing electrons as a probe of the nucleus, and the measurements performed at RHIC, physicists will create a better picture of the strong force, and how stable matter is formed.
Cameron Dean joined the Iowa State University physics department in 2026 as an assistant professor specializing in experimental nuclear physics. He previously worked as a postdoctoral research associate at MIT from 2022 to 2026, and Los Alamos National Laboratory between 2019 and 2022. He obtained his PhD in experimental particle physics from the University of Glasgow, and has worked on experiments at the LHC, RHIC and on future EIC efforts.