Abstract

The strong interaction described by quantum chromodynamics may be studied under conditions of high parton temperature and high energy density, using relativistic heavy ion collisions. High energy heavy ion collisions aim to recreate the conditions which existed a few microseconds following the big bang, and determine the properties of this super-dense matter. The density of produced hadrons is very high, at energy densities of 200(130) GeV/fm³. The quark-gluon plasma produced at high temperature and high energy density studies thermodynamic model for heavy ion collision at different energies. One of the main objective of thermodynamic model is to observe the quantum chromodynamics phase transition of hadron matter to quark-gluon plasma. Central collisions of two gold nuclei at the top energy of the relativistic heavy ion collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory produced thousands of charged particles. These are the largest particle multiplicities generated in man-made subatomic reactions. The hope is that these complex systems may reveal evidence of the creation and decay of a quark-gluon plasma, where quarks and gluons are allowed to explore a volume larger than that of typical hadrons.

Key words: Quark-gluon plasma, quantum chromodynamics, relativistic heavy ion collider, ion.

Abbreviation

RHIC, relativistic heavy ion collider; QGP, quark-gluon plasma.