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RHIC

RHIC, the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, is a nuclear physics research facility at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, New York. It is a two-ring collider that accelerates and collides heavy ions and polarized protons in opposite directions. The machine’s two concentric superconducting rings, known as the Blue and Yellow rings, run inside a 2.4-mile (3.8-kilometer) tunnel. Collisions occur at interaction points where large detectors measure produced particles.

RHIC supports a range of collision programs, including heavy-ion collisions such as gold and, experimentally, uranium,

The facility enables exploration of quantum chromodynamics under extreme conditions, with the goal of characterizing the

to
create
extreme
energy
densities.
In
addition,
it
collides
polarized
proton
beams
to
study
the
spin
structure
of
the
proton
and
the
role
of
gluons
in
spin
dynamics.
Major
detectors
associated
with
RHIC
experiments
have
included
STAR
(Solenoidal
Tracker
at
RHIC)
and
PHENIX
(Pioneering
High
Energy
Nuclear
Interaction
eXperiment),
among
others.
quark–gluon
plasma,
a
state
in
which
quarks
and
gluons
are
deconfined.
RHIC
has
contributed
to
measurements
of
collective
flow,
jet
quenching,
and
other
signatures
of
QGP,
as
well
as
to
spin
physics
in
proton
collisions.
It
is
funded
by
the
U.S.
Department
of
Energy
and
operated
by
Brookhaven
National
Laboratory,
and
has
undergone
upgrades
to
increase
luminosity
and
energy
reach
over
its
operational
history.