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Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider
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Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider

device
Also known as: RHIC
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Quick Summary

The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) is a particle accelerator located at Brookhaven National Laboratory. It is designed to accelerate beams of heavy ions, such as gold ions, to very high energies.1

The primary goal of RHIC is to study quark-gluon plasma, a state of matter believed to have existed in the early universe shortly after the Big Bang. By colliding heavy nuclei at extremely high energies, scientists aim to recreate the conditions necessary for this plasma to form, allowing them to investigate its properties. A heavy ion is defined as any particle with one or more units of electric charge and a mass greater than that of a helium-4 nucleus.123

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
6 Britannica Sources
  1. heavy ion
  2. particle accelerator - Proton storage rings
  3. particle accelerator - Van de Graaff generators
  4. colliding-beam storage ring
  5. plasma - The development of plasma physics
  6. subatomic particle - Linking to the cosmos

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