Probes for a new form of nuclear matter EU-funded scientists have developed powerful tools to study properties of quark-gluon plasma (QGP) created in Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) experiments. Energy © agsandrew, Thinkstock QGP consists of quarks and gluons bound only weakly and free to move on their own that existed in the universe shortly after the Big Bang. Today, there is a consensus that the same form of matter is observed in experiments in which massive ions collide in the world's most powerful particle accelerators. To study properties of QGP, scientists used perturbative quantum chromodynamics (QCD) and finite temperature field theory. Within the JETS IN QCD MATTER (Theoretical predictions of jet observables in QCD matter) project, they explored energy loss mechanisms. Previous theoretical treatments of energy loss were based on unrealistic assumptions – like static scattering centres. The project team developed a more realistic and complete formalism in a finite size QCD medium. Next, scientists integrated the improved formalism into a computational model able to predict jet suppression as a result of interactions with the surrounding medium. Theoretical predictions were compared with experimental observations showing that the developed formalism fully and reliably explains the data. JETS IN QCD MATTER then used this framework to explain surprising experimental data and propose an explanation for the suppression of heavy flavour observables. The seminal findings have been published in highly acclaimed peer-reviewed scientific journals. Today, the scientists are expanding their formalism to produce theoretical predictions of elliptic flows in the LHC and RHIC experiments. There is much more to be discovered about the origins and evolution of the universe by probing a form of nuclear matter quite different and more remarkable than had been predicted. Keywords Quark-gluon plasma, LHC, RHIC, Big Bang, JETS IN QCD MATTER, quantum chromodynamics
