Abstract: The building blocks of all visible matter in our universe—quarks and gluons—are normally confined within hadrons by the powerful grip of the strong force. However, in the early universe, just microseconds after the Big Bang, matter existed in a deconfined state known as the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP), a hot, dense soup of free quarks and gluons. Recreating and studying this primordial phase of matter is one of the most exciting frontiers in high-energy nuclear physics. Today, using ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions at facilities like the LHC and RHIC, we can momentarily bring this early-universe matter back to life in the laboratory. In this talk, I will present how soft probes, such as two-particle correlations and collective flow, reveal the bulk behavior of the QGP, while hard probes, such as jets and high-pT particles, are used to study how high-energy partons lose energy in the medium. Together, these observables provide complementary insights into the structure, evolution, and transport properties of the QGP.

Name of the Speaker: Dr Raghunath Pradhan, University of Illinois, Chicago
Date: Friday, 09th May, 2025
Time: 3.30 PM – 4.30 PM
Venue: Room no. 004