Inside RHIC is a web publication that -- in some small measure -- reflects the excitement of the RHIC and AGS program at Brookhaven, as explained by some of the people who are doing the experiments, analyzing the data, and writing the papers. http://www.bnl.gov/rhic/InsideRHIC/ en-us www@bnl.gov http://www.bnl.gov/today/images/TODAY-110px.jpg http://www.bnl.gov/rhic/InsideRHIC/ I am now one of you, having retired from BNL at the end of December. I am confident RHIC progress and affairs are being left in very capable hands under Berndt Mueller as the new ALD and Thomas Roser and Tom Ludlam continuing in their roles as Chairs of the Collider-Accelerator and Physics Departments, respectively. http://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=23618 Wed, 16 Jan 2013 07:30:00 EST Shortly after the midnight of June 28, 2012, I walked out of the PHENIX counting house and made sure that the last PHENIX shift crew for Run-12 safely exited the PHENIX site and the doors were securely locked. To me, this marked as the official ending point of a superb PHENIX operation in RHIC Run-12. http://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=23619 Tue, 15 Jan 2013 07:30:00 EST The 2012 Hot Quarks workshop for young scientists on the physics of ultrarelativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions took place October 14-20 in Copamarina, Puerto Rico. It was well attended by students and young Ph.D.'s from both the theory community as well as experimentalists from RHIC, the LHC, and Jefferson Lab's CEBAF. http://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=23620 Mon, 14 Jan 2013 07:30:00 EST As most of you are aware, there is currently a Subpanel of NSAC, chaired by Bob Tribble, which is charged to make recommendations aimed to “optimize the overall nuclear science program over the next five years (FY 2014-2018)” under funding scenarios far more constrained than those assumed in the 2007 Long Range Plan. http://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=23370 Fri, 21 Sep 2012 07:30:00 EST All particle colliders have to meet demanding goals for luminosity, the number of collisions per second they are producing, which requires colliding the most intense, tightly focused beams possible. RHIC, as the only polarized proton collider in the world, also has to meet the goal of maximizing the beam polarization – the degree to which this spins of all of the protons in the beam are pointing in the same direction. http://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=23266 Mon, 13 Aug 2012 07:00:00 EST In October 2010, the PHENIX Collaboration published its plan for future experimentation, detailing key physics questions for study at RHIC over the next decade. A few weeks ago, on July 1, 2012, the collaboration completed months of work and submitted to BNL management a proposal for a greatly upgraded PHENIX detector which we call sPHENIX. http://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=23264 Mon, 6 Aug 2012 09:00:00 EST The 2012 RHIC/AGS Annual User Meeting began quietly on the BNL campus June 12 with two parallel workshops on Heavy Ion Physics and Spin Physics. The Annual User Meeting has been the platform for the users of the RHIC accelerator complex to discuss the achievements of RHIC operations during the last year, as well as ideas for hardware upgrades and plans for the future physics program. http://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=23265 Fri, 3 Aug 2012 08:00:00 EST A search committee for the the Associate Laboratory Director for Nuclear and Particle Physics, to replace Steve Vigdor, who is retiring at end of 2012 (see his Annual State of RHIC Report), has been appointed by Sam Aronson. http://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=22970 Mon, 26 Mar 2012 07:30:00 EST One of the striking discoveries from the heavy-ion program at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) is that the medium created in central 200 AGeV Au-Au collisions behaves like a nearly perfect fluid. http://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=22960 Mon, 19 Mar 2012 07:30:00 EST Let me take this opportunity to wish all of you and your families a happy and prosperous New Year, and to bring you up to date on 2011 RHIC highlights and plans and issues for 2012 and beyond. http://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=22813 Tue, 10 Jan 2012 07:30:00 EST As the heavy ion physics program has evolved at RHIC, improvements and upgrades in the Collider-Accelerator complex have paid off in both peak luminosity and luminosity lifetime. As a result, RHIC has been able to provide sufficient integrated luminosity despite shorter run lengths. http://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=22756 Mon, 5 Dec 2011 07:30:00 EST The RHIC physics programs rely on particle beams of exquisite quality. For high luminosity this means maximizing the beam intensities and ensuring that the bunches of particles comprising the beams are as small and dense as possible. For experiments with polarized protons, the beam’s polarization must also be preserved. Within the past few years the quality of RHIC beams has been improved significantly. http://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=22757 Mon, 5 Dec 2011 07:15:00 EST This was the first ever symposium of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences on the subject of Subnuclear Physics. Although the Pontifical Academy traces its roots to the Accademia dei Lincei, which was founded in Rome in 1603, the modern Academy dates from 1936. http://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=22758 Mon, 5 Dec 2011 07:00:00 EST Yasuyuki Akiba, the Experimental Group Leader at the RIKEN BNL Research Center, and Deputy Spokesperson of the PHENIX collaboration, was awarded the Nihsina Memorial Prize for 2011. http://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=22731 Fri, 18 Nov 2011 07:30:00 EST Direct photons are a powerful tool to investigate the collision dynamics. PHENIX has measured direct photons over wide pT ranges, including hard scattering and thermal photons, and extracted quantities, such as slope parameters, that reflect thermodynamic properties of the matter. An unexpectedly large positive elliptic measured for direct photons is difficult to explain by many models. http://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=22724 Thu, 17 Nov 2011 07:30:00 EST The units of the American Physical Society provide opportunities for members to interact with colleagues with similar interests and to keep abreast of new developments in their specialized fields. One such unit is the APS Topical Group on Hadronic Physics. http://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=22553 Mon, 15 Aug 2011 07:30:00 EST eRHIC is a proposed upgrade to RHIC involving the addition of a high-intensity electron beam, which will collide with one of the existing hadron beams. Such an upgrade will open a wide new frontier of precision hadron physics for the RHIC facility. http://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=22465 Mon, 27 Jun 2011 07:30:00 EST This event, held in the Rayburn Foyer of the Rayburn House Office Building, was organized to highlight the significant and important role that scientific user facilities play in science education, economic competitiveness, fundamental knowledge, and scientific achievements. http://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=22389 Thu, 19 May 2011 07:00:00 EST At the January 2011 RHIC Open Forum meeting Susan White-DePace made a presentation on the National User Facility Organization (NUFO). For those of you who were unable to participate in that event, we would like to share information about this important organization. http://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=22255 Thu, 17 Feb 2011 07:30:00 EST Let me start by wishing all members of the RHIC users community a healthy and productive 2011. Then, I would like to bring you up to date on the upcoming Run 11 and a number of issues regarding planning for RHIC’s future. http://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=22192 Tue, 11 Jan 2011 07:30:00 EST