Going with the flow — exploring the nuclear phase diagram at the highest temperatures and densities
Dr. Chun Shen
RIKEN BNL fellow
Wayne State University
In-person in Smith Seminar Room (1080 Smith), masks required
Faculty Host: Ulrich Heinz
Abstract: Nuclear matter has a complex phase structure, including a deconfined Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) phase at extreme pressures and temperatures. The hot QGP behaves like an inviscid fluid and filled the universe during its first few microseconds after the Big Bang. High energy collisions of heavy atomic nuclei recreate this hot nuclear matter in the laboratory. In this talk, I will review recent theoretical progress in studying the QGP transport properties. The Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC) has conducted a beam energy scan whose results offer a unique opportunity to study the nuclear phase diagram in a baryon-rich environment. I will highlight the development of a comprehensive framework that can connect the fundamental theory of strong interactions with the RHIC experimental observables. This dynamical framework paves the way for quantitative QGP characterization and locating the critical point in the nuclear phase diagram. These studies will advance our understanding of strongly interacting many-body systems, building interconnections with other areas of physics, including string theory, cosmology, and cold atomic gases.
Please use the Zoom link below to attend virtually:
https://osu.zoom.us/j/94858307115?pwd=K0JDMTROWVhIOUp6bU1sU0prZjNUZz09
Meeting ID: 948 5830 7115
Password: PRB1080
More about Professor Shen:
Prof. Shen got his Ph. D degree from the Ohio State University in 2014. After graduation, he was a postdoc fellow at McGill University and a Goldhaber Fellow at the Brookhaven National Laboratory. He accepted a RIKEN-BNL bridged position as an assistant professor at Wayne State University in 2018. Over the years, he received the 2016 APS dissertation award in nuclear physics and the IUPAP young scientist prize in nuclear physics in 2019. In 2021, he was awarded the DoE Early Career Award. Since 2018 he has been an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Ohio State Physics Department.