The STAR Detector

The STAR detector specializes in tracking the thousands of particles produced by each ion collision at RHIC. Weighing 1,200 tons and as large as a house, STAR is a massive detector. It is used to search for signatures of the form of matter that RHIC was designed to create: the quark-gluon plasma (QGP).

Detecting and understanding the QGP allows us to understand better the universe in the moments after the Big Bang, where the symmetries (and lack of symmetries) of our surroundings were put into motion. Unlike other physics experiments where a theoretical idea can be tested directly by a single measurement, STAR must make use of a variety of simultaneous studies in order to draw strong conclusions about the QGP. This is due both to the complexity of the system formed in high-energy nuclear collisions and the unexplored landscape of the physics being studied.

Multiple Detectors

STAR consists of several types of detectors, each specializing in detecting certain types of particles or characterizing their motion. These detectors work together in an advanced data acquisition and subsequent physics analysis that allows final statements to be made about the collision.

The Heart of STAR

STAR's "heart" is the Time Projection Chamber which tracks and identifies particles emerging from heavy ion collisions. As each collision occurs, STAR measures many parameters simultaneously to look for signs of QGP.

'Reversing' Time

By using powerful computers to reconstruct the sub-atomic interactions which produce the particles emerging from each collision, the detector can, in a sense, run time backwards. This process can be compared to examining the final products which come out of a factory and trying to determine what kinds of machines produced them.

The STAR Collaboration

The STAR collaboration is composed of hundreds of scientists and engineers from the U.S. and abroad. STAR is composed of 55 institutions from 12 countries, with a total of 609 collaborators. A variety of personnel participate in the collaboration, including students, university faculty and staff, national laboratory staff, and engineers.

STAR collaboration website

Funding Agencies