Direct Hadronic Reconstruction of D ± Mesons at STAR

From these QCD also leads to the prediction that in relativistic heavy ion collisions of sufficient energy a new phase of matter is created, one in which quarks and gluons are de-confined and locally thermalized causing the formation of a phase of matter known as Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP). It is currently believed this new phase forms at temperatures approaching ∼1012 K or ∼175 MeV. The only time that this phase of matter could exist in nature is moments after the big bang when the temperature of the universe was much higher than it is today, making QGP an excellent probe for conditions of the early universe. However, at certain particle accelerator such as Brookhaven’s Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) it is believed that we are able to recreate and observe this matter.