Neutron Rich Matter
Dense neutron rich matter is central to many fundamental questions in nuclear physics and astrophysics and is being studied with an extraordinary variety of laboratory and astronomical tools. These tools include radioactive beam accelerators and electromagnetic, neutrino, and gravitational wave observatories.
Principal Investigator: Chuck Horowitz
The Lead Radius Experiment (PREX)
PREX is an experiment at Jefferson Laboratory that uses parity violating electron scattering to determine the neutron distribution in 208Pb. This has many important implications for astrophysics, nuclear structure, and atomic parity violation experiments.
Principal Investigator: Chuck Horowitz
The Equation of State of Dense Matter
We are performing large-scale virial and relativistic mean field calculations of the pressure of dense nuclear matter as a function of density, temperature, and composition. These results are being used in astrophysical simulations of supernovae, neutron star mergers, and black hole formation.
Principal Investigator: Chuck Horowitz
Hot Nuclear Matter and Heavy Ion Collisions
We focus on developing the theory of hot nuclear matter and the phenomenology of high energy heavy ion collisions. Theoretical and experimental studies have suggested that the hot nuclear matter in the early Universe, reaching a temperature as high as about trillion degrees, is a quark-gluon plasma. Our group's research program aims to investigate the unusual properties of this extreme form of matter and to explain novel quantum phenomena that emerge in this material which has been created and measured in heavy ion collision experiments at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) as well as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). In doing so, we deepen our understanding of the basic theory of the nuclear force, namely the Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD).
Principal Investigator: Jinfeng Liao
Quark Distribution Functions
Models of quark distributions and how these depend on charge symmetry breaking.
Principal Investigator: Tim Londergan
Hadronic Physics
A common theme in my group research program is deriving precise predictions for phenomena involving strongly interacting elementary particles in the nonperturbative regime of Quantum Chromo-Dynamics (QCD). Using specialized analytical techniques, such as Chiral Perturbation Theory and Dispersive methods, we are able to obtain accurate descriptions of experimental data, extract fundamental parameters of nature, and test the Standard Model and its extensions. These methods also complement the simulations of lattice QCD, offering analytical cross-checks and physically motivated parameterizations.
Principal Investigator: Emilie Passemar
Coulomb Gauge QCD
Quantum Chromodynamics Formalism to describe hadron structure and quark confinement.
Principal Investigator: Adam Szczepaniak
Partial Wave Analysis
Analysis of scattering experiments to uncover new hadrons and their properties.
Principal Investigator: Adam Szczepaniak
