Experimental and theoretical challenges in the search for the quark-gluon plasma

The STAR Collaboration's critical assessment of the evidence from RHIC collisions

J. Adams, M. M. Aggarwal, Z. Ahammed, J. Amonett, B. D. Anderson, D. Arkhipkin, G. S. Averichev, S. K. Badyal, Y. Bai, J. Balewski, O. Barannikova, L. S. Barnby, J. Baudot, S. Bekele, V. V. Belaga, A. Bellingeri-Laurikainen, R. Bellwied, J. Berger, B. I. Bezverkhny, S. Bharadwaj & 349 others A. Bhasin, A. K. Bhati, V. S. Bhatia, H. Bichsel, J. Bielcik, J. Bielcikova, A. Billmeier, L. C. Bland, C. O. Blyth, B. E. Bonner, M. Botje, A. Boucham, J. Bouchet, A. V. Brandin, A. Bravar, M. Bystersky, R. V. Cadman, X. Z. Cai, H. Caines, M. Calderón de la Barca Sánchez, J. Castillo, O. Catu, D. Cebra, Z. Chajecki, P. Chaloupka, S. Chattopadhyay, H. F. Chen, Y. Chen, J. Cheng, Michael G. Cherney, A. Chikanian, W. Christie, J. P. Coffin, T. M. Cormier, J. G. Cramer, H. J. Crawford, D. Das, S. Das, M. M. de Moura, T. G. Dedovich, A. A. Derevschikov, L. Didenko, T. Dietel, S. M. Dogra, W. J. Dong, X. Dong, J. E. Draper, F. Du, A. K. Dubey, V. B. Dunin, J. C. Dunlop, M. R. Dutta Mazumdar, V. Eckardt, W. R. Edwards, L. G. Efimov, V. Emelianov, J. Engelage, G. Eppley, B. Erazmus, M. Estienne, P. Fachini, J. Faivre, R. Fatemi, J. Fedorisin, K. Filimonov, P. Filip, E. Finch, V. Fine, Y. Fisyak, J. Fu, C. A. Gagliardi, L. Gaillard, J. Gans, M. S. Ganti, F. Geurts, V. Ghazikhanian, P. Ghosh, J. E. Gonzalez, H. Gos, O. Grachov, O. Grebenyuk, D. Grosnick, S. M. Guertin, Y. Guo, A. Gupta, T. D. Gutierrez, T. J. Hallman, A. Hamed, D. Hardtke, J. W. Harris, M. Heinz, T. W. Henry, S. Hepplemann, B. Hippolyte, A. Hirsch, E. Hjort, G. W. Hoffmann, H. Z. Huang, S. L. Huang, E. W. Hughes, T. J. Humanic, G. Igo, A. Ishihara, P. Jacobs, W. W. Jacobs, M. Jedynak, H. Jiang, P. G. Jones, E. G. Judd, S. Kabana, K. Kang, M. Kaplan, D. Keane, A. Kechechyan, V. Y. Khodyrev, J. Kiryluk, A. Kisiel, E. M. Kislov, J. Klay, S. R. Klein, D. D. Koetke, T. Kollegger, M. Kopytine, L. Kotchenda, M. Kramer, P. Kravtsov, V. I. Kravtsov, K. Krueger, C. Kuhn, A. I. Kulikov, A. Kumar, R. K. Kutuev, A. A. Kuznetsov, M. A C Lamont, J. M. Landgraf, S. Lange, F. Laue, J. Lauret, A. Lebedev, R. Lednicky, S. Lehocka, M. J. LeVine, C. Li, Q. Li, Y. Li, G. Lin, S. J. Lindenbaum, M. A. Lisa, F. Liu, H. Liu, L. Liu, Q. J. Lìu, Z. Liu, T. Ljubicic, W. J. Llope, H. Long, R. S. Longacre, M. Lopez-Noriega, W. A. Love, Y. Lu, T. Ludlam, D. Lynn, G. L. Ma, J. G. Ma, Y. G. Ma, D. Magestro, S. Mahajan, D. P. Mahapatra, R. Majka, L. K. Mangotra, R. Manweiler, S. Margetis, C. Markert, L. Martin, J. N. Marx, H. S. Matis, Yu A. Matulenko, C. J. McClain, T. S. McShane, F. Meissner, Yu Melnick, A. Meschanin, M. L. Miller, N. G. Minaev, C. Mironov, A. Mischke, D. K. Mishra, J. Mitchell, B. Mohanty, L. Molnar, C. F. Moore, D. A. Morozov, M. G. Munhoz, B. K. Nandi, S. K. Nayak, T. K. Nayak, J. M. Nelson, P. K. Netrakanti, V. A. Nikitin, L. V. Nogach, S. B. Nurushev, G. Odyniec, A. Ogawa, V. Okorokov, M. Oldenburg, D. Olson, S. K. Pal, A. I. Pavlinov, T. Pawlak, T. Peitzmann, V. Perevoztchikov, C. Perkins, W. Peryt, V. A. Petrov, S. C. Phatak, R. Picha, M. Planinic, J. Pluta, N. Porile, J. Porter, A. M. Poskanzer, M. Potekhin, E. Potrebenikova, B. V K S Potukuchi, D. Prindle, C. Pruneau, J. Putschke, G. Rakness, R. Raniwala, S. Raniwala, O. Ravel, R. L. Ray, S. V. Razin, D. Reichhold, J. G. Reid, J. Reinnarth, G. Renault, F. Retiere, A. Ridiger, H. G. Ritter, J. B. Roberts, O. V. Rogachevskiy, J. L. Romero, A. Rose, C. Roy, L. Ruan, M. Russcher, R. Sahoo, I. Sakrejda, S. Salur, J. Sandweiss, M. Sarsour, I. Savin, P. S. Sazhin, J. Schambach, R. P. Scharenberg, N. Schmitz, Janet E. Seger, P. Seyboth, E. Shahaliev, M. Shao, W. Shao, M. Sharma, W. Q. Shen, K. E. Shestermanov, S. S. Shimanskiy, E. Sichtermann, F. Simon, R. N. Singaraju, N. Smirnov, R. Snellings, G. Sood, P. Sorensen, J. Sowinski, J. Speltz, H. M. Spinka, B. Srivastava, A. Stadnik, T. D S Stanislaus, R. Stock, A. Stolpovsky, M. Strikhanov, B. Stringfellow, A. A P Suaide, E. Sugarbaker, C. Suire, M. Sumbera, B. Surrow, M. Swanger, T. J M Symons, A. Szanto de Toledo, A. Tai, J. Takahashi, A. H. Tang, T. Tarnowsky, D. Thein, J. H. Thomas, S. Timoshenko, M. Tokarev, S. Trentalange, R. E. Tribble, O. D. Tsai, J. Ulery, T. Ullrich, D. G. Underwood, G. Van Buren, M. van Leeuwen, A. M. Vander Molen, R. Varma, I. M. Vasilevski, A. N. Vasiliev, R. Vernet, S. E. Vigdor, Y. P. Viyogi, S. Vokal, S. A. Voloshin, W. T. Waggoner, F. Wang, G. Wang, G. Wang, X. L. Wang, Y. Wang, Y. Wang, Z. M. Wang, H. Ward, J. W. Watson, J. C. Webb, G. D. Westfall, A. Wetzler, C. Whitten, G. Wieman, S. W. Wissink, R. Witt, J. Wood, J. Wu, N. Xu, Z. Xu, Z. Z. Xu, E. Yamamoto, P. Yepes, V. I. Yurevich, H. Zborovsky, H. Zhang, W. M. Zhang, Y. Zhang, Z. P. Zhang, R. Zoulkarneev, Y. Zoulkarneeva, A. N. Zubarev

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article

2249 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We review the most important experimental results from the first three years of nucleus-nucleus collision studies at RHIC, with emphasis on results from the STAR experiment, and we assess their interpretation and comparison to theory. The theory-experiment comparison suggests that central Au + Au collisions at RHIC produce dense, rapidly thermalizing matter characterized by: (1) initial energy densities above the critical values predicted by lattice QCD for establishment of a quark-gluon plasma (QGP); (2) nearly ideal fluid flow, marked by constituent interactions of very short mean free path, established most probably at a stage preceding hadron formation; and (3) opacity to jets. Many of the observations are consistent with models incorporating QGP formation in the early collision stages, and have not found ready explanation in a hadronic framework. However, the measurements themselves do not yet establish unequivocal evidence for a transition to this new form of matter. The theoretical treatment of the collision evolution, despite impressive successes, invokes a suite of distinct models, degrees of freedom and assumptions of as yet unknown quantitative consequence. We pose a set of important open questions, and suggest additional measurements, at least some of which should be addressed in order to establish a compelling basis to conclude definitively that thermalized, deconfined quark-gluon matter has been produced at RHIC.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)102-183
Number of pages82
JournalNuclear Physics A
Volume757
Issue number1-2 SPEC. ISS.
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 8 2005

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quarks
collisions
ideal fluids
nuclei
opacity
quark models
mean free path
fluid flow
flux density
degrees of freedom
quantum chromodynamics
interactions

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Nuclear and High Energy Physics

Cite this

Experimental and theoretical challenges in the search for the quark-gluon plasma : The STAR Collaboration's critical assessment of the evidence from RHIC collisions. / Adams, J.; Aggarwal, M. M.; Ahammed, Z.; Amonett, J.; Anderson, B. D.; Arkhipkin, D.; Averichev, G. S.; Badyal, S. K.; Bai, Y.; Balewski, J.; Barannikova, O.; Barnby, L. S.; Baudot, J.; Bekele, S.; Belaga, V. V.; Bellingeri-Laurikainen, A.; Bellwied, R.; Berger, J.; Bezverkhny, B. I.; Bharadwaj, S.; Bhasin, A.; Bhati, A. K.; Bhatia, V. S.; Bichsel, H.; Bielcik, J.; Bielcikova, J.; Billmeier, A.; Bland, L. C.; Blyth, C. O.; Bonner, B. E.; Botje, M.; Boucham, A.; Bouchet, J.; Brandin, A. V.; Bravar, A.; Bystersky, M.; Cadman, R. V.; Cai, X. Z.; Caines, H.; Calderón de la Barca Sánchez, M.; Castillo, J.; Catu, O.; Cebra, D.; Chajecki, Z.; Chaloupka, P.; Chattopadhyay, S.; Chen, H. F.; Chen, Y.; Cheng, J.; Cherney, Michael G.; Chikanian, A.; Christie, W.; Coffin, J. P.; Cormier, T. M.; Cramer, J. G.; Crawford, H. J.; Das, D.; Das, S.; de Moura, M. M.; Dedovich, T. G.; Derevschikov, A. A.; Didenko, L.; Dietel, T.; Dogra, S. M.; Dong, W. J.; Dong, X.; Draper, J. E.; Du, F.; Dubey, A. K.; Dunin, V. B.; Dunlop, J. C.; Dutta Mazumdar, M. R.; Eckardt, V.; Edwards, W. R.; Efimov, L. G.; Emelianov, V.; Engelage, J.; Eppley, G.; Erazmus, B.; Estienne, M.; Fachini, P.; Faivre, J.; Fatemi, R.; Fedorisin, J.; Filimonov, K.; Filip, P.; Finch, E.; Fine, V.; Fisyak, Y.; Fu, J.; Gagliardi, C. A.; Gaillard, L.; Gans, J.; Ganti, M. S.; Geurts, F.; Ghazikhanian, V.; Ghosh, P.; Gonzalez, J. E.; Gos, H.; Grachov, O.; Grebenyuk, O.; Grosnick, D.; Guertin, S. M.; Guo, Y.; Gupta, A.; Gutierrez, T. D.; Hallman, T. J.; Hamed, A.; Hardtke, D.; Harris, J. W.; Heinz, M.; Henry, T. W.; Hepplemann, S.; Hippolyte, B.; Hirsch, A.; Hjort, E.; Hoffmann, G. W.; Huang, H. Z.; Huang, S. L.; Hughes, E. W.; Humanic, T. J.; Igo, G.; Ishihara, A.; Jacobs, P.; Jacobs, W. W.; Jedynak, M.; Jiang, H.; Jones, P. G.; Judd, E. G.; Kabana, S.; Kang, K.; Kaplan, M.; Keane, D.; Kechechyan, A.; Khodyrev, V. Y.; Kiryluk, J.; Kisiel, A.; Kislov, E. M.; Klay, J.; Klein, S. R.; Koetke, D. D.; Kollegger, T.; Kopytine, M.; Kotchenda, L.; Kramer, M.; Kravtsov, P.; Kravtsov, V. I.; Krueger, K.; Kuhn, C.; Kulikov, A. I.; Kumar, A.; Kutuev, R. K.; Kuznetsov, A. A.; Lamont, M. A C; Landgraf, J. M.; Lange, S.; Laue, F.; Lauret, J.; Lebedev, A.; Lednicky, R.; Lehocka, S.; LeVine, M. J.; Li, C.; Li, Q.; Li, Y.; Lin, G.; Lindenbaum, S. J.; Lisa, M. A.; Liu, F.; Liu, H.; Liu, L.; Lìu, Q. J.; Liu, Z.; Ljubicic, T.; Llope, W. J.; Long, H.; Longacre, R. S.; Lopez-Noriega, M.; Love, W. A.; Lu, Y.; Ludlam, T.; Lynn, D.; Ma, G. L.; Ma, J. G.; Ma, Y. G.; Magestro, D.; Mahajan, S.; Mahapatra, D. P.; Majka, R.; Mangotra, L. K.; Manweiler, R.; Margetis, S.; Markert, C.; Martin, L.; Marx, J. N.; Matis, H. S.; Matulenko, Yu A.; McClain, C. J.; McShane, T. S.; Meissner, F.; Melnick, Yu; Meschanin, A.; Miller, M. L.; Minaev, N. G.; Mironov, C.; Mischke, A.; Mishra, D. K.; Mitchell, J.; Mohanty, B.; Molnar, L.; Moore, C. F.; Morozov, D. A.; Munhoz, M. G.; Nandi, B. K.; Nayak, S. K.; Nayak, T. K.; Nelson, J. M.; Netrakanti, P. K.; Nikitin, V. A.; Nogach, L. V.; Nurushev, S. B.; Odyniec, G.; Ogawa, A.; Okorokov, V.; Oldenburg, M.; Olson, D.; Pal, S. K.; Pavlinov, A. I.; Pawlak, T.; Peitzmann, T.; Perevoztchikov, V.; Perkins, C.; Peryt, W.; Petrov, V. A.; Phatak, S. C.; Picha, R.; Planinic, M.; Pluta, J.; Porile, N.; Porter, J.; Poskanzer, A. M.; Potekhin, M.; Potrebenikova, E.; Potukuchi, B. V K S; Prindle, D.; Pruneau, C.; Putschke, J.; Rakness, G.; Raniwala, R.; Raniwala, S.; Ravel, O.; Ray, R. L.; Razin, S. V.; Reichhold, D.; Reid, J. G.; Reinnarth, J.; Renault, G.; Retiere, F.; Ridiger, A.; Ritter, H. G.; Roberts, J. B.; Rogachevskiy, O. V.; Romero, J. L.; Rose, A.; Roy, C.; Ruan, L.; Russcher, M.; Sahoo, R.; Sakrejda, I.; Salur, S.; Sandweiss, J.; Sarsour, M.; Savin, I.; Sazhin, P. S.; Schambach, J.; Scharenberg, R. P.; Schmitz, N.; Seger, Janet E.; Seyboth, P.; Shahaliev, E.; Shao, M.; Shao, W.; Sharma, M.; Shen, W. Q.; Shestermanov, K. E.; Shimanskiy, S. S.; Sichtermann, E.; Simon, F.; Singaraju, R. N.; Smirnov, N.; Snellings, R.; Sood, G.; Sorensen, P.; Sowinski, J.; Speltz, J.; Spinka, H. M.; Srivastava, B.; Stadnik, A.; Stanislaus, T. D S; Stock, R.; Stolpovsky, A.; Strikhanov, M.; Stringfellow, B.; Suaide, A. A P; Sugarbaker, E.; Suire, C.; Sumbera, M.; Surrow, B.; Swanger, M.; Symons, T. J M; Szanto de Toledo, A.; Tai, A.; Takahashi, J.; Tang, A. H.; Tarnowsky, T.; Thein, D.; Thomas, J. H.; Timoshenko, S.; Tokarev, M.; Trentalange, S.; Tribble, R. E.; Tsai, O. D.; Ulery, J.; Ullrich, T.; Underwood, D. G.; Van Buren, G.; van Leeuwen, M.; Vander Molen, A. M.; Varma, R.; Vasilevski, I. M.; Vasiliev, A. N.; Vernet, R.; Vigdor, S. E.; Viyogi, Y. P.; Vokal, S.; Voloshin, S. A.; Waggoner, W. T.; Wang, F.; Wang, G.; Wang, G.; Wang, X. L.; Wang, Y.; Wang, Y.; Wang, Z. M.; Ward, H.; Watson, J. W.; Webb, J. C.; Westfall, G. D.; Wetzler, A.; Whitten, C.; Wieman, G.; Wissink, S. W.; Witt, R.; Wood, J.; Wu, J.; Xu, N.; Xu, Z.; Xu, Z. Z.; Yamamoto, E.; Yepes, P.; Yurevich, V. I.; Zborovsky, H.; Zhang, H.; Zhang, W. M.; Zhang, Y.; Zhang, Z. P.; Zoulkarneev, R.; Zoulkarneeva, Y.; Zubarev, A. N.

In: Nuclear Physics A, Vol. 757, No. 1-2 SPEC. ISS., 08.08.2005, p. 102-183.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article

Adams, J, Aggarwal, MM, Ahammed, Z, Amonett, J, Anderson, BD, Arkhipkin, D, Averichev, GS, Badyal, SK, Bai, Y, Balewski, J, Barannikova, O, Barnby, LS, Baudot, J, Bekele, S, Belaga, VV, Bellingeri-Laurikainen, A, Bellwied, R, Berger, J, Bezverkhny, BI, Bharadwaj, S, Bhasin, A, Bhati, AK, Bhatia, VS, Bichsel, H, Bielcik, J, Bielcikova, J, Billmeier, A, Bland, LC, Blyth, CO, Bonner, BE, Botje, M, Boucham, A, Bouchet, J, Brandin, AV, Bravar, A, Bystersky, M, Cadman, RV, Cai, XZ, Caines, H, Calderón de la Barca Sánchez, M, Castillo, J, Catu, O, Cebra, D, Chajecki, Z, Chaloupka, P, Chattopadhyay, S, Chen, HF, Chen, Y, Cheng, J, Cherney, MG, Chikanian, A, Christie, W, Coffin, JP, Cormier, TM, Cramer, JG, Crawford, HJ, Das, D, Das, S, de Moura, MM, Dedovich, TG, Derevschikov, AA, Didenko, L, Dietel, T, Dogra, SM, Dong, WJ, Dong, X, Draper, JE, Du, F, Dubey, AK, Dunin, VB, Dunlop, JC, Dutta Mazumdar, MR, Eckardt, V, Edwards, WR, Efimov, LG, Emelianov, V, Engelage, J, Eppley, G, Erazmus, B, Estienne, M, Fachini, P, Faivre, J, Fatemi, R, Fedorisin, J, Filimonov, K, Filip, P, Finch, E, Fine, V, Fisyak, Y, Fu, J, Gagliardi, CA, Gaillard, L, Gans, J, Ganti, MS, Geurts, F, Ghazikhanian, V, Ghosh, P, Gonzalez, JE, Gos, H, Grachov, O, Grebenyuk, O, Grosnick, D, Guertin, SM, Guo, Y, Gupta, A, Gutierrez, TD, Hallman, TJ, Hamed, A, Hardtke, D, Harris, JW, Heinz, M, Henry, TW, Hepplemann, S, Hippolyte, B, Hirsch, A, Hjort, E, Hoffmann, GW, Huang, HZ, Huang, SL, Hughes, EW, Humanic, TJ, Igo, G, Ishihara, A, Jacobs, P, Jacobs, WW, Jedynak, M, Jiang, H, Jones, PG, Judd, EG, Kabana, S, Kang, K, Kaplan, M, Keane, D, Kechechyan, A, Khodyrev, VY, Kiryluk, J, Kisiel, A, Kislov, EM, Klay, J, Klein, SR, Koetke, DD, Kollegger, T, Kopytine, M, Kotchenda, L, Kramer, M, Kravtsov, P, Kravtsov, VI, Krueger, K, Kuhn, C, Kulikov, AI, Kumar, A, Kutuev, RK, Kuznetsov, AA, Lamont, MAC, Landgraf, JM, Lange, S, Laue, F, Lauret, J, Lebedev, A, Lednicky, R, Lehocka, S, LeVine, MJ, Li, C, Li, Q, Li, Y, Lin, G, Lindenbaum, SJ, Lisa, MA, Liu, F, Liu, H, Liu, L, Lìu, QJ, Liu, Z, Ljubicic, T, Llope, WJ, Long, H, Longacre, RS, Lopez-Noriega, M, Love, WA, Lu, Y, Ludlam, T, Lynn, D, Ma, GL, Ma, JG, Ma, YG, Magestro, D, Mahajan, S, Mahapatra, DP, Majka, R, Mangotra, LK, Manweiler, R, Margetis, S, Markert, C, Martin, L, Marx, JN, Matis, HS, Matulenko, YA, McClain, CJ, McShane, TS, Meissner, F, Melnick, Y, Meschanin, A, Miller, ML, Minaev, NG, Mironov, C, Mischke, A, Mishra, DK, Mitchell, J, Mohanty, B, Molnar, L, Moore, CF, Morozov, DA, Munhoz, MG, Nandi, BK, Nayak, SK, Nayak, TK, Nelson, JM, Netrakanti, PK, Nikitin, VA, Nogach, LV, Nurushev, SB, Odyniec, G, Ogawa, A, Okorokov, V, Oldenburg, M, Olson, D, Pal, SK, Pavlinov, AI, Pawlak, T, Peitzmann, T, Perevoztchikov, V, Perkins, C, Peryt, W, Petrov, VA, Phatak, SC, Picha, R, Planinic, M, Pluta, J, Porile, N, Porter, J, Poskanzer, AM, Potekhin, M, Potrebenikova, E, Potukuchi, BVKS, Prindle, D, Pruneau, C, Putschke, J, Rakness, G, Raniwala, R, Raniwala, S, Ravel, O, Ray, RL, Razin, SV, Reichhold, D, Reid, JG, Reinnarth, J, Renault, G, Retiere, F, Ridiger, A, Ritter, HG, Roberts, JB, Rogachevskiy, OV, Romero, JL, Rose, A, Roy, C, Ruan, L, Russcher, M, Sahoo, R, Sakrejda, I, Salur, S, Sandweiss, J, Sarsour, M, Savin, I, Sazhin, PS, Schambach, J, Scharenberg, RP, Schmitz, N, Seger, JE, Seyboth, P, Shahaliev, E, Shao, M, Shao, W, Sharma, M, Shen, WQ, Shestermanov, KE, Shimanskiy, SS, Sichtermann, E, Simon, F, Singaraju, RN, Smirnov, N, Snellings, R, Sood, G, Sorensen, P, Sowinski, J, Speltz, J, Spinka, HM, Srivastava, B, Stadnik, A, Stanislaus, TDS, Stock, R, Stolpovsky, A, Strikhanov, M, Stringfellow, B, Suaide, AAP, Sugarbaker, E, Suire, C, Sumbera, M, Surrow, B, Swanger, M, Symons, TJM, Szanto de Toledo, A, Tai, A, Takahashi, J, Tang, AH, Tarnowsky, T, Thein, D, Thomas, JH, Timoshenko, S, Tokarev, M, Trentalange, S, Tribble, RE, Tsai, OD, Ulery, J, Ullrich, T, Underwood, DG, Van Buren, G, van Leeuwen, M, Vander Molen, AM, Varma, R, Vasilevski, IM, Vasiliev, AN, Vernet, R, Vigdor, SE, Viyogi, YP, Vokal, S, Voloshin, SA, Waggoner, WT, Wang, F, Wang, G, Wang, G, Wang, XL, Wang, Y, Wang, Y, Wang, ZM, Ward, H, Watson, JW, Webb, JC, Westfall, GD, Wetzler, A, Whitten, C, Wieman, G, Wissink, SW, Witt, R, Wood, J, Wu, J, Xu, N, Xu, Z, Xu, ZZ, Yamamoto, E, Yepes, P, Yurevich, VI, Zborovsky, H, Zhang, H, Zhang, WM, Zhang, Y, Zhang, ZP, Zoulkarneev, R, Zoulkarneeva, Y & Zubarev, AN 2005, 'Experimental and theoretical challenges in the search for the quark-gluon plasma: The STAR Collaboration's critical assessment of the evidence from RHIC collisions', Nuclear Physics A, vol. 757, no. 1-2 SPEC. ISS., pp. 102-183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nuclphysa.2005.03.085
Adams J, Aggarwal MM, Ahammed Z, Amonett J, Anderson BD, Arkhipkin D et al. Experimental and theoretical challenges in the search for the quark-gluon plasma: The STAR Collaboration's critical assessment of the evidence from RHIC collisions. Nuclear Physics A. 2005 Aug 8;757(1-2 SPEC. ISS.):102-183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nuclphysa.2005.03.085
Adams, J. ; Aggarwal, M. M. ; Ahammed, Z. ; Amonett, J. ; Anderson, B. D. ; Arkhipkin, D. ; Averichev, G. S. ; Badyal, S. K. ; Bai, Y. ; Balewski, J. ; Barannikova, O. ; Barnby, L. S. ; Baudot, J. ; Bekele, S. ; Belaga, V. V. ; Bellingeri-Laurikainen, A. ; Bellwied, R. ; Berger, J. ; Bezverkhny, B. I. ; Bharadwaj, S. ; Bhasin, A. ; Bhati, A. K. ; Bhatia, V. S. ; Bichsel, H. ; Bielcik, J. ; Bielcikova, J. ; Billmeier, A. ; Bland, L. C. ; Blyth, C. O. ; Bonner, B. E. ; Botje, M. ; Boucham, A. ; Bouchet, J. ; Brandin, A. V. ; Bravar, A. ; Bystersky, M. ; Cadman, R. V. ; Cai, X. Z. ; Caines, H. ; Calderón de la Barca Sánchez, M. ; Castillo, J. ; Catu, O. ; Cebra, D. ; Chajecki, Z. ; Chaloupka, P. ; Chattopadhyay, S. ; Chen, H. F. ; Chen, Y. ; Cheng, J. ; Cherney, Michael G. ; Chikanian, A. ; Christie, W. ; Coffin, J. P. ; Cormier, T. M. ; Cramer, J. G. ; Crawford, H. J. ; Das, D. ; Das, S. ; de Moura, M. M. ; Dedovich, T. G. ; Derevschikov, A. A. ; Didenko, L. ; Dietel, T. ; Dogra, S. M. ; Dong, W. J. ; Dong, X. ; Draper, J. E. ; Du, F. ; Dubey, A. K. ; Dunin, V. B. ; Dunlop, J. C. ; Dutta Mazumdar, M. R. ; Eckardt, V. ; Edwards, W. R. ; Efimov, L. G. ; Emelianov, V. ; Engelage, J. ; Eppley, G. ; Erazmus, B. ; Estienne, M. ; Fachini, P. ; Faivre, J. ; Fatemi, R. ; Fedorisin, J. ; Filimonov, K. ; Filip, P. ; Finch, E. ; Fine, V. ; Fisyak, Y. ; Fu, J. ; Gagliardi, C. A. ; Gaillard, L. ; Gans, J. ; Ganti, M. S. ; Geurts, F. ; Ghazikhanian, V. ; Ghosh, P. ; Gonzalez, J. E. ; Gos, H. ; Grachov, O. ; Grebenyuk, O. ; Grosnick, D. ; Guertin, S. M. ; Guo, Y. ; Gupta, A. ; Gutierrez, T. D. ; Hallman, T. J. ; Hamed, A. ; Hardtke, D. ; Harris, J. W. ; Heinz, M. ; Henry, T. W. ; Hepplemann, S. ; Hippolyte, B. ; Hirsch, A. ; Hjort, E. ; Hoffmann, G. W. ; Huang, H. Z. ; Huang, S. L. ; Hughes, E. W. ; Humanic, T. J. ; Igo, G. ; Ishihara, A. ; Jacobs, P. ; Jacobs, W. W. ; Jedynak, M. ; Jiang, H. ; Jones, P. G. ; Judd, E. G. ; Kabana, S. ; Kang, K. ; Kaplan, M. ; Keane, D. ; Kechechyan, A. ; Khodyrev, V. Y. ; Kiryluk, J. ; Kisiel, A. ; Kislov, E. M. ; Klay, J. ; Klein, S. R. ; Koetke, D. D. ; Kollegger, T. ; Kopytine, M. ; Kotchenda, L. ; Kramer, M. ; Kravtsov, P. ; Kravtsov, V. I. ; Krueger, K. ; Kuhn, C. ; Kulikov, A. I. ; Kumar, A. ; Kutuev, R. K. ; Kuznetsov, A. A. ; Lamont, M. A C ; Landgraf, J. M. ; Lange, S. ; Laue, F. ; Lauret, J. ; Lebedev, A. ; Lednicky, R. ; Lehocka, S. ; LeVine, M. J. ; Li, C. ; Li, Q. ; Li, Y. ; Lin, G. ; Lindenbaum, S. J. ; Lisa, M. A. ; Liu, F. ; Liu, H. ; Liu, L. ; Lìu, Q. J. ; Liu, Z. ; Ljubicic, T. ; Llope, W. J. ; Long, H. ; Longacre, R. S. ; Lopez-Noriega, M. ; Love, W. A. ; Lu, Y. ; Ludlam, T. ; Lynn, D. ; Ma, G. L. ; Ma, J. G. ; Ma, Y. G. ; Magestro, D. ; Mahajan, S. ; Mahapatra, D. P. ; Majka, R. ; Mangotra, L. K. ; Manweiler, R. ; Margetis, S. ; Markert, C. ; Martin, L. ; Marx, J. N. ; Matis, H. S. ; Matulenko, Yu A. ; McClain, C. J. ; McShane, T. S. ; Meissner, F. ; Melnick, Yu ; Meschanin, A. ; Miller, M. L. ; Minaev, N. G. ; Mironov, C. ; Mischke, A. ; Mishra, D. K. ; Mitchell, J. ; Mohanty, B. ; Molnar, L. ; Moore, C. F. ; Morozov, D. A. ; Munhoz, M. G. ; Nandi, B. K. ; Nayak, S. K. ; Nayak, T. K. ; Nelson, J. M. ; Netrakanti, P. K. ; Nikitin, V. A. ; Nogach, L. V. ; Nurushev, S. B. ; Odyniec, G. ; Ogawa, A. ; Okorokov, V. ; Oldenburg, M. ; Olson, D. ; Pal, S. K. ; Pavlinov, A. I. ; Pawlak, T. ; Peitzmann, T. ; Perevoztchikov, V. ; Perkins, C. ; Peryt, W. ; Petrov, V. A. ; Phatak, S. C. ; Picha, R. ; Planinic, M. ; Pluta, J. ; Porile, N. ; Porter, J. ; Poskanzer, A. M. ; Potekhin, M. ; Potrebenikova, E. ; Potukuchi, B. V K S ; Prindle, D. ; Pruneau, C. ; Putschke, J. ; Rakness, G. ; Raniwala, R. ; Raniwala, S. ; Ravel, O. ; Ray, R. L. ; Razin, S. V. ; Reichhold, D. ; Reid, J. G. ; Reinnarth, J. ; Renault, G. ; Retiere, F. ; Ridiger, A. ; Ritter, H. G. ; Roberts, J. B. ; Rogachevskiy, O. V. ; Romero, J. L. ; Rose, A. ; Roy, C. ; Ruan, L. ; Russcher, M. ; Sahoo, R. ; Sakrejda, I. ; Salur, S. ; Sandweiss, J. ; Sarsour, M. ; Savin, I. ; Sazhin, P. S. ; Schambach, J. ; Scharenberg, R. P. ; Schmitz, N. ; Seger, Janet E. ; Seyboth, P. ; Shahaliev, E. ; Shao, M. ; Shao, W. ; Sharma, M. ; Shen, W. Q. ; Shestermanov, K. E. ; Shimanskiy, S. S. ; Sichtermann, E. ; Simon, F. ; Singaraju, R. N. ; Smirnov, N. ; Snellings, R. ; Sood, G. ; Sorensen, P. ; Sowinski, J. ; Speltz, J. ; Spinka, H. M. ; Srivastava, B. ; Stadnik, A. ; Stanislaus, T. D S ; Stock, R. ; Stolpovsky, A. ; Strikhanov, M. ; Stringfellow, B. ; Suaide, A. A P ; Sugarbaker, E. ; Suire, C. ; Sumbera, M. ; Surrow, B. ; Swanger, M. ; Symons, T. J M ; Szanto de Toledo, A. ; Tai, A. ; Takahashi, J. ; Tang, A. H. ; Tarnowsky, T. ; Thein, D. ; Thomas, J. H. ; Timoshenko, S. ; Tokarev, M. ; Trentalange, S. ; Tribble, R. E. ; Tsai, O. D. ; Ulery, J. ; Ullrich, T. ; Underwood, D. G. ; Van Buren, G. ; van Leeuwen, M. ; Vander Molen, A. M. ; Varma, R. ; Vasilevski, I. M. ; Vasiliev, A. N. ; Vernet, R. ; Vigdor, S. E. ; Viyogi, Y. P. ; Vokal, S. ; Voloshin, S. A. ; Waggoner, W. T. ; Wang, F. ; Wang, G. ; Wang, G. ; Wang, X. L. ; Wang, Y. ; Wang, Y. ; Wang, Z. M. ; Ward, H. ; Watson, J. W. ; Webb, J. C. ; Westfall, G. D. ; Wetzler, A. ; Whitten, C. ; Wieman, G. ; Wissink, S. W. ; Witt, R. ; Wood, J. ; Wu, J. ; Xu, N. ; Xu, Z. ; Xu, Z. Z. ; Yamamoto, E. ; Yepes, P. ; Yurevich, V. I. ; Zborovsky, H. ; Zhang, H. ; Zhang, W. M. ; Zhang, Y. ; Zhang, Z. P. ; Zoulkarneev, R. ; Zoulkarneeva, Y. ; Zubarev, A. N. / Experimental and theoretical challenges in the search for the quark-gluon plasma : The STAR Collaboration's critical assessment of the evidence from RHIC collisions. In: Nuclear Physics A. 2005 ; Vol. 757, No. 1-2 SPEC. ISS. pp. 102-183.
@article{9f5e2436e6ca4c3aa9d5ce648e15e150,
title = "Experimental and theoretical challenges in the search for the quark-gluon plasma: The STAR Collaboration's critical assessment of the evidence from RHIC collisions",
abstract = "We review the most important experimental results from the first three years of nucleus-nucleus collision studies at RHIC, with emphasis on results from the STAR experiment, and we assess their interpretation and comparison to theory. The theory-experiment comparison suggests that central Au + Au collisions at RHIC produce dense, rapidly thermalizing matter characterized by: (1) initial energy densities above the critical values predicted by lattice QCD for establishment of a quark-gluon plasma (QGP); (2) nearly ideal fluid flow, marked by constituent interactions of very short mean free path, established most probably at a stage preceding hadron formation; and (3) opacity to jets. Many of the observations are consistent with models incorporating QGP formation in the early collision stages, and have not found ready explanation in a hadronic framework. However, the measurements themselves do not yet establish unequivocal evidence for a transition to this new form of matter. The theoretical treatment of the collision evolution, despite impressive successes, invokes a suite of distinct models, degrees of freedom and assumptions of as yet unknown quantitative consequence. We pose a set of important open questions, and suggest additional measurements, at least some of which should be addressed in order to establish a compelling basis to conclude definitively that thermalized, deconfined quark-gluon matter has been produced at RHIC.",
author = "J. Adams and Aggarwal, {M. M.} and Z. Ahammed and J. Amonett and Anderson, {B. D.} and D. Arkhipkin and Averichev, {G. S.} and Badyal, {S. K.} and Y. Bai and J. Balewski and O. Barannikova and Barnby, {L. S.} and J. Baudot and S. Bekele and Belaga, {V. V.} and A. Bellingeri-Laurikainen and R. Bellwied and J. Berger and Bezverkhny, {B. I.} and S. Bharadwaj and A. Bhasin and Bhati, {A. K.} and Bhatia, {V. S.} and H. Bichsel and J. Bielcik and J. Bielcikova and A. Billmeier and Bland, {L. C.} and Blyth, {C. O.} and Bonner, {B. E.} and M. Botje and A. Boucham and J. Bouchet and Brandin, {A. V.} and A. Bravar and M. Bystersky and Cadman, {R. V.} and Cai, {X. Z.} and H. Caines and {Calder{\'o}n de la Barca S{\'a}nchez}, M. and J. Castillo and O. Catu and D. Cebra and Z. Chajecki and P. Chaloupka and S. Chattopadhyay and Chen, {H. F.} and Y. Chen and J. Cheng and Cherney, {Michael G.} and A. Chikanian and W. Christie and Coffin, {J. P.} and Cormier, {T. M.} and Cramer, {J. G.} and Crawford, {H. J.} and D. Das and S. Das and {de Moura}, {M. M.} and Dedovich, {T. G.} and Derevschikov, {A. A.} and L. Didenko and T. Dietel and Dogra, {S. M.} and Dong, {W. J.} and X. Dong and Draper, {J. E.} and F. Du and Dubey, {A. K.} and Dunin, {V. B.} and Dunlop, {J. C.} and {Dutta Mazumdar}, {M. R.} and V. Eckardt and Edwards, {W. R.} and Efimov, {L. G.} and V. Emelianov and J. Engelage and G. Eppley and B. Erazmus and M. Estienne and P. Fachini and J. Faivre and R. Fatemi and J. Fedorisin and K. Filimonov and P. Filip and E. Finch and V. Fine and Y. Fisyak and J. Fu and Gagliardi, {C. A.} and L. Gaillard and J. Gans and Ganti, {M. S.} and F. Geurts and V. Ghazikhanian and P. Ghosh and Gonzalez, {J. E.} and H. Gos and O. Grachov and O. Grebenyuk and D. Grosnick and Guertin, {S. M.} and Y. Guo and A. Gupta and Gutierrez, {T. D.} and Hallman, {T. J.} and A. Hamed and D. Hardtke and Harris, {J. W.} and M. Heinz and Henry, {T. W.} and S. Hepplemann and B. Hippolyte and A. Hirsch and E. Hjort and Hoffmann, {G. W.} and Huang, {H. Z.} and Huang, {S. L.} and Hughes, {E. W.} and Humanic, {T. J.} and G. Igo and A. Ishihara and P. Jacobs and Jacobs, {W. W.} and M. Jedynak and H. Jiang and Jones, {P. G.} and Judd, {E. G.} and S. Kabana and K. Kang and M. Kaplan and D. Keane and A. Kechechyan and Khodyrev, {V. Y.} and J. Kiryluk and A. Kisiel and Kislov, {E. M.} and J. Klay and Klein, {S. R.} and Koetke, {D. D.} and T. Kollegger and M. Kopytine and L. Kotchenda and M. Kramer and P. Kravtsov and Kravtsov, {V. I.} and K. Krueger and C. Kuhn and Kulikov, {A. I.} and A. Kumar and Kutuev, {R. K.} and Kuznetsov, {A. A.} and Lamont, {M. A C} and Landgraf, {J. M.} and S. Lange and F. Laue and J. Lauret and A. Lebedev and R. Lednicky and S. Lehocka and LeVine, {M. J.} and C. Li and Q. Li and Y. Li and G. Lin and Lindenbaum, {S. J.} and Lisa, {M. A.} and F. Liu and H. Liu and L. Liu and L{\`i}u, {Q. J.} and Z. Liu and T. Ljubicic and Llope, {W. J.} and H. Long and Longacre, {R. S.} and M. Lopez-Noriega and Love, {W. A.} and Y. Lu and T. Ludlam and D. Lynn and Ma, {G. L.} and Ma, {J. G.} and Ma, {Y. G.} and D. Magestro and S. Mahajan and Mahapatra, {D. P.} and R. Majka and Mangotra, {L. K.} and R. Manweiler and S. Margetis and C. Markert and L. Martin and Marx, {J. N.} and Matis, {H. S.} and Matulenko, {Yu A.} and McClain, {C. J.} and McShane, {T. S.} and F. Meissner and Yu Melnick and A. Meschanin and Miller, {M. L.} and Minaev, {N. G.} and C. Mironov and A. Mischke and Mishra, {D. K.} and J. Mitchell and B. Mohanty and L. Molnar and Moore, {C. F.} and Morozov, {D. A.} and Munhoz, {M. G.} and Nandi, {B. K.} and Nayak, {S. K.} and Nayak, {T. K.} and Nelson, {J. M.} and Netrakanti, {P. K.} and Nikitin, {V. A.} and Nogach, {L. V.} and Nurushev, {S. B.} and G. Odyniec and A. Ogawa and V. Okorokov and M. Oldenburg and D. Olson and Pal, {S. K.} and Pavlinov, {A. I.} and T. Pawlak and T. Peitzmann and V. Perevoztchikov and C. Perkins and W. Peryt and Petrov, {V. A.} and Phatak, {S. C.} and R. Picha and M. Planinic and J. Pluta and N. Porile and J. Porter and Poskanzer, {A. M.} and M. Potekhin and E. Potrebenikova and Potukuchi, {B. V K S} and D. Prindle and C. Pruneau and J. Putschke and G. Rakness and R. Raniwala and S. Raniwala and O. Ravel and Ray, {R. L.} and Razin, {S. V.} and D. Reichhold and Reid, {J. G.} and J. Reinnarth and G. Renault and F. Retiere and A. Ridiger and Ritter, {H. G.} and Roberts, {J. B.} and Rogachevskiy, {O. V.} and Romero, {J. L.} and A. Rose and C. Roy and L. Ruan and M. Russcher and R. Sahoo and I. Sakrejda and S. Salur and J. Sandweiss and M. Sarsour and I. Savin and Sazhin, {P. S.} and J. Schambach and Scharenberg, {R. P.} and N. Schmitz and Seger, {Janet E.} and P. Seyboth and E. Shahaliev and M. Shao and W. Shao and M. Sharma and Shen, {W. Q.} and Shestermanov, {K. E.} and Shimanskiy, {S. S.} and E. Sichtermann and F. Simon and Singaraju, {R. N.} and N. Smirnov and R. Snellings and G. Sood and P. Sorensen and J. Sowinski and J. Speltz and Spinka, {H. M.} and B. Srivastava and A. Stadnik and Stanislaus, {T. D S} and R. Stock and A. Stolpovsky and M. Strikhanov and B. Stringfellow and Suaide, {A. A P} and E. Sugarbaker and C. Suire and M. Sumbera and B. Surrow and M. Swanger and Symons, {T. J M} and {Szanto de Toledo}, A. and A. Tai and J. Takahashi and Tang, {A. H.} and T. Tarnowsky and D. Thein and Thomas, {J. H.} and S. Timoshenko and M. Tokarev and S. Trentalange and Tribble, {R. E.} and Tsai, {O. D.} and J. Ulery and T. Ullrich and Underwood, {D. G.} and {Van Buren}, G. and {van Leeuwen}, M. and {Vander Molen}, {A. M.} and R. Varma and Vasilevski, {I. M.} and Vasiliev, {A. N.} and R. Vernet and Vigdor, {S. E.} and Viyogi, {Y. P.} and S. Vokal and Voloshin, {S. A.} and Waggoner, {W. T.} and F. Wang and G. Wang and G. Wang and Wang, {X. L.} and Y. Wang and Y. Wang and Wang, {Z. M.} and H. Ward and Watson, {J. W.} and Webb, {J. C.} and Westfall, {G. D.} and A. Wetzler and C. Whitten and G. Wieman and Wissink, {S. W.} and R. Witt and J. Wood and J. Wu and N. Xu and Z. Xu and Xu, {Z. Z.} and E. Yamamoto and P. Yepes and Yurevich, {V. I.} and H. Zborovsky and H. Zhang and Zhang, {W. M.} and Y. Zhang and Zhang, {Z. P.} and R. Zoulkarneev and Y. Zoulkarneeva and Zubarev, {A. N.}",
year = "2005",
month = "8",
day = "8",
doi = "10.1016/j.nuclphysa.2005.03.085",
language = "English",
volume = "757",
pages = "102--183",
journal = "Nuclear Physics A",
issn = "0375-9474",
publisher = "Elsevier",
number = "1-2 SPEC. ISS.",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Experimental and theoretical challenges in the search for the quark-gluon plasma

T2 - The STAR Collaboration's critical assessment of the evidence from RHIC collisions

AU - Adams, J.

AU - Aggarwal, M. M.

AU - Ahammed, Z.

AU - Amonett, J.

AU - Anderson, B. D.

AU - Arkhipkin, D.

AU - Averichev, G. S.

AU - Badyal, S. K.

AU - Bai, Y.

AU - Balewski, J.

AU - Barannikova, O.

AU - Barnby, L. S.

AU - Baudot, J.

AU - Bekele, S.

AU - Belaga, V. V.

AU - Bellingeri-Laurikainen, A.

AU - Bellwied, R.

AU - Berger, J.

AU - Bezverkhny, B. I.

AU - Bharadwaj, S.

AU - Bhasin, A.

AU - Bhati, A. K.

AU - Bhatia, V. S.

AU - Bichsel, H.

AU - Bielcik, J.

AU - Bielcikova, J.

AU - Billmeier, A.

AU - Bland, L. C.

AU - Blyth, C. O.

AU - Bonner, B. E.

AU - Botje, M.

AU - Boucham, A.

AU - Bouchet, J.

AU - Brandin, A. V.

AU - Bravar, A.

AU - Bystersky, M.

AU - Cadman, R. V.

AU - Cai, X. Z.

AU - Caines, H.

AU - Calderón de la Barca Sánchez, M.

AU - Castillo, J.

AU - Catu, O.

AU - Cebra, D.

AU - Chajecki, Z.

AU - Chaloupka, P.

AU - Chattopadhyay, S.

AU - Chen, H. F.

AU - Chen, Y.

AU - Cheng, J.

AU - Cherney, Michael G.

AU - Chikanian, A.

AU - Christie, W.

AU - Coffin, J. P.

AU - Cormier, T. M.

AU - Cramer, J. G.

AU - Crawford, H. J.

AU - Das, D.

AU - Das, S.

AU - de Moura, M. M.

AU - Dedovich, T. G.

AU - Derevschikov, A. A.

AU - Didenko, L.

AU - Dietel, T.

AU - Dogra, S. M.

AU - Dong, W. J.

AU - Dong, X.

AU - Draper, J. E.

AU - Du, F.

AU - Dubey, A. K.

AU - Dunin, V. B.

AU - Dunlop, J. C.

AU - Dutta Mazumdar, M. R.

AU - Eckardt, V.

AU - Edwards, W. R.

AU - Efimov, L. G.

AU - Emelianov, V.

AU - Engelage, J.

AU - Eppley, G.

AU - Erazmus, B.

AU - Estienne, M.

AU - Fachini, P.

AU - Faivre, J.

AU - Fatemi, R.

AU - Fedorisin, J.

AU - Filimonov, K.

AU - Filip, P.

AU - Finch, E.

AU - Fine, V.

AU - Fisyak, Y.

AU - Fu, J.

AU - Gagliardi, C. A.

AU - Gaillard, L.

AU - Gans, J.

AU - Ganti, M. S.

AU - Geurts, F.

AU - Ghazikhanian, V.

AU - Ghosh, P.

AU - Gonzalez, J. E.

AU - Gos, H.

AU - Grachov, O.

AU - Grebenyuk, O.

AU - Grosnick, D.

AU - Guertin, S. M.

AU - Guo, Y.

AU - Gupta, A.

AU - Gutierrez, T. D.

AU - Hallman, T. J.

AU - Hamed, A.

AU - Hardtke, D.

AU - Harris, J. W.

AU - Heinz, M.

AU - Henry, T. W.

AU - Hepplemann, S.

AU - Hippolyte, B.

AU - Hirsch, A.

AU - Hjort, E.

AU - Hoffmann, G. W.

AU - Huang, H. Z.

AU - Huang, S. L.

AU - Hughes, E. W.

AU - Humanic, T. J.

AU - Igo, G.

AU - Ishihara, A.

AU - Jacobs, P.

AU - Jacobs, W. W.

AU - Jedynak, M.

AU - Jiang, H.

AU - Jones, P. G.

AU - Judd, E. G.

AU - Kabana, S.

AU - Kang, K.

AU - Kaplan, M.

AU - Keane, D.

AU - Kechechyan, A.

AU - Khodyrev, V. Y.

AU - Kiryluk, J.

AU - Kisiel, A.

AU - Kislov, E. M.

AU - Klay, J.

AU - Klein, S. R.

AU - Koetke, D. D.

AU - Kollegger, T.

AU - Kopytine, M.

AU - Kotchenda, L.

AU - Kramer, M.

AU - Kravtsov, P.

AU - Kravtsov, V. I.

AU - Krueger, K.

AU - Kuhn, C.

AU - Kulikov, A. I.

AU - Kumar, A.

AU - Kutuev, R. K.

AU - Kuznetsov, A. A.

AU - Lamont, M. A C

AU - Landgraf, J. M.

AU - Lange, S.

AU - Laue, F.

AU - Lauret, J.

AU - Lebedev, A.

AU - Lednicky, R.

AU - Lehocka, S.

AU - LeVine, M. J.

AU - Li, C.

AU - Li, Q.

AU - Li, Y.

AU - Lin, G.

AU - Lindenbaum, S. J.

AU - Lisa, M. A.

AU - Liu, F.

AU - Liu, H.

AU - Liu, L.

AU - Lìu, Q. J.

AU - Liu, Z.

AU - Ljubicic, T.

AU - Llope, W. J.

AU - Long, H.

AU - Longacre, R. S.

AU - Lopez-Noriega, M.

AU - Love, W. A.

AU - Lu, Y.

AU - Ludlam, T.

AU - Lynn, D.

AU - Ma, G. L.

AU - Ma, J. G.

AU - Ma, Y. G.

AU - Magestro, D.

AU - Mahajan, S.

AU - Mahapatra, D. P.

AU - Majka, R.

AU - Mangotra, L. K.

AU - Manweiler, R.

AU - Margetis, S.

AU - Markert, C.

AU - Martin, L.

AU - Marx, J. N.

AU - Matis, H. S.

AU - Matulenko, Yu A.

AU - McClain, C. J.

AU - McShane, T. S.

AU - Meissner, F.

AU - Melnick, Yu

AU - Meschanin, A.

AU - Miller, M. L.

AU - Minaev, N. G.

AU - Mironov, C.

AU - Mischke, A.

AU - Mishra, D. K.

AU - Mitchell, J.

AU - Mohanty, B.

AU - Molnar, L.

AU - Moore, C. F.

AU - Morozov, D. A.

AU - Munhoz, M. G.

AU - Nandi, B. K.

AU - Nayak, S. K.

AU - Nayak, T. K.

AU - Nelson, J. M.

AU - Netrakanti, P. K.

AU - Nikitin, V. A.

AU - Nogach, L. V.

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PY - 2005/8/8

Y1 - 2005/8/8

N2 - We review the most important experimental results from the first three years of nucleus-nucleus collision studies at RHIC, with emphasis on results from the STAR experiment, and we assess their interpretation and comparison to theory. The theory-experiment comparison suggests that central Au + Au collisions at RHIC produce dense, rapidly thermalizing matter characterized by: (1) initial energy densities above the critical values predicted by lattice QCD for establishment of a quark-gluon plasma (QGP); (2) nearly ideal fluid flow, marked by constituent interactions of very short mean free path, established most probably at a stage preceding hadron formation; and (3) opacity to jets. Many of the observations are consistent with models incorporating QGP formation in the early collision stages, and have not found ready explanation in a hadronic framework. However, the measurements themselves do not yet establish unequivocal evidence for a transition to this new form of matter. The theoretical treatment of the collision evolution, despite impressive successes, invokes a suite of distinct models, degrees of freedom and assumptions of as yet unknown quantitative consequence. We pose a set of important open questions, and suggest additional measurements, at least some of which should be addressed in order to establish a compelling basis to conclude definitively that thermalized, deconfined quark-gluon matter has been produced at RHIC.

AB - We review the most important experimental results from the first three years of nucleus-nucleus collision studies at RHIC, with emphasis on results from the STAR experiment, and we assess their interpretation and comparison to theory. The theory-experiment comparison suggests that central Au + Au collisions at RHIC produce dense, rapidly thermalizing matter characterized by: (1) initial energy densities above the critical values predicted by lattice QCD for establishment of a quark-gluon plasma (QGP); (2) nearly ideal fluid flow, marked by constituent interactions of very short mean free path, established most probably at a stage preceding hadron formation; and (3) opacity to jets. Many of the observations are consistent with models incorporating QGP formation in the early collision stages, and have not found ready explanation in a hadronic framework. However, the measurements themselves do not yet establish unequivocal evidence for a transition to this new form of matter. The theoretical treatment of the collision evolution, despite impressive successes, invokes a suite of distinct models, degrees of freedom and assumptions of as yet unknown quantitative consequence. We pose a set of important open questions, and suggest additional measurements, at least some of which should be addressed in order to establish a compelling basis to conclude definitively that thermalized, deconfined quark-gluon matter has been produced at RHIC.

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U2 - 10.1016/j.nuclphysa.2005.03.085

DO - 10.1016/j.nuclphysa.2005.03.085

M3 - Review article

VL - 757

SP - 102

EP - 183

JO - Nuclear Physics A

JF - Nuclear Physics A

SN - 0375-9474

IS - 1-2 SPEC. ISS.

ER -

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