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Codes</a> </ul> </div>  </div> </div><div class="gd" id="gd-8"> <div class="container_24"> <div class="grid_10 prefix_1 suffix_1"> <form class="homePageSearchForm webSearchForm" method="post" action="https://www.bnl.gov/search/"> <span class="fa fa-globe fa-3x"></span><div> <input class="BNLinput webSearchField" name="q1" type="text" value="" maxlength="256" autocomplete="off" placeholder="Web Search..."> <input type="hidden" name="DIRECTORY_RESTRICT" value=""> <input type="hidden" name="SUBCOLLECTION" value="default_collection"> </div> </form> </div> <div class="grid_10 prefix_1"> <form class="homePageSearchForm peopleSearchForm" method="post" action="https://www.bnl.gov/search/"> <span class="fa fa-user fa-3x"></span><div> <input class="BNLinput peopleSearchField" name="q1" type="text" value="" maxlength="256" autocomplete="off" placeholder="People Search..."> <input type="hidden" name="DIRECTORY_RESTRICT" value=""> <input type="hidden" name="SUBCOLLECTION" value="people"> </div> </form> </div> <div class="grid_1"> <a class="closeGD menuClose" href="javascript:void(0);" title="Hide Search Fields"><span class="fa-stack fa-lg"> <i class="fa fa-square-o fa-stack-2x"></i> <i class="fa fa-close fa-stack-1x"></i> </span></a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="clear"></div><div id="stripe"> <div class="container_24" id="banner"> <div class="grid_24" > <span id="hamburger" class="fa fa-bars"></span> <span id="mobileSearchTrigger" class="fa fa-search"></span> <a id="bnlLogoLink" title="BNL Homepage" href="https://www.bnl.gov"> <img class="BNLlogo black" title="BNL Homepage" src="/assets/global/images/bnl-logo-2021.svg" /> <img class="BNLlogo white-gray" title="BNL Homepage" src="/assets/global/images/bnl-logo-white-2021.svg" /> </a> <div id="siteTitleContainer">Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider</div> <div id="bs-blurb"> At Brookhaven National Lab's Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, physicists from around the world study what the universe may have looked like in the first few moments after its creation. What scientists learn from RHIC may help us understand more about why the physical world works the way it does, from the smallest subatomic particles, to the largest stars. </div> <div id="doeLogoContainer"> <a id="doeLogoLink" title="DOE Office of Science" href="http://science.energy.gov/"> <img class="DOElogo black" title="DOE Office of Science" src="/assets/global/images/logo-doe-black-200px.png" /> <img class="DOElogo white" title="DOE Office of Science" src="/assets/global/images/logo-doe-white-500px.png" /> </a> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="container_24" id="siteMenuContainer"> <div class="grid_24"> <ul id="siteMenu"> <li><a href="/rhic/">Home</a> <li><a href="physics.php">RHIC Science</a> <ul> <li><a href="physics.php">Physics of RHIC</a></li> <li><a href="new-physics.php">Discoveries</a></li> <li><a href="star.php">STAR</a></li> <li><a href="phenix.php">PHENIX</a></li> <li><a href="sphenix.php">sPHENIX</a></li> <li><a href="phobos-brahms.php">PHOBOS & BRAHMS</a></li> <li><a href="/eic/">Electron-Ion Collider</a></li> <li><a href="complex.php">Accelerator Complex</a></li> <li><a href="quark-matter.php">Why?</a></li> </ul> <li><a href="newsroom.php">News</a> <li><a href="images.php">Images</a> <li><a href="videos.php">Videos</a> <li><a href="collaborators.php">For Scientists</a> </ul> </div> </div> <img id="heroGraphic" src="images/banner-sphenix-2.jpg" alt="rendering of sPHENIX detector"> <div class="container_24">  <div class="grid_24"> <h1>The sPHENIX Detector</h1> </div> <div class="grid_15 suffix_1"> <h4 style="margin-bottom:2.5em">sPHENIX is a radical makeover of the <a href="https://www.bnl.gov/rhic/phenix.php">PHENIX</a> experiment, one of the original detectors designed to collect data at Brookhaven Lab’s Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. It includes many new components that significantly enhance scientists’ ability to learn about quark-gluon plasma (QGP), an exotic form of nuclear matter created in RHIC’s energetic particle smashups.</h4> <p>The sPHENIX detector is about the size of a two-story house and weighs 1,000 tons. Like a giant, 3D digital camera, the detector will capture snapshots of 15,000 particle collisions per second, more than three times faster than PHENIX. With these capabilities, sPHENIX will take advantage of the many accelerator improvements that have been made to increase collision rates at RHIC.</p> <h3>Magnet at the core</h3> <p>The cylindrical superconducting magnet at the core of sPHENIX began its life as part of the BaBar experiment at <a href="https://www6.slac.stanford.edu/">SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory</a> in California. After a <a href="https://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=25500">cross-country journey</a> and <a href="https://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=26367"> extensive testing</a> at Brookhaven, the 20-ton solenoid was <a href="https://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=219195">installed</a> as part of the <a href="https://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=218914"> sPHENIX assembly</a> project in 2021. When sPHENIX begins collecting data in 2023, the powerful magnet will bend the trajectories of charged particles produced in proton and ion collisions at RHIC so scientists can tease out subtle details about how the building blocks of matter interact. For example, the bending power of the sPHENIX magnet will allow physicists to differentiate among particles that come in three different mass states to learn about the force that binds quarks and gluons into larger particles such as protons and neutrons.</p> </div>  <div class="grid_8"> <ul class='articleSummaries alt1'> <li class=''><a target='_top' href='https://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=122346'><div class='thumbnail'><img onerror='this.src="/assets/global/images/unavailable-minipic.jpg";' src='/today/intra_pics/2025/03/2024-04-08-1824-0172-550px.jpg' alt='View of the interior of the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider tunnel with a central cylindrical tube,' /></div> <h3>Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) Enters 25th and Final Run</h3> <p class='date'>Monday, March 24, 2025</p> </a> <div class='clear'></div> <li class=''><a target='_top' href='https://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=221986'><div class='thumbnail'><img onerror='this.src="/assets/global/images/unavailable-minipic.jpg";' src='/today/intra_pics/2024/07/2024-06-13-1629-0049-550px.jpg' alt='User's meeting group photo' /></div> <h3>Welcoming a New Era of Discovery at the 2024 RHIC & AGS Users' Meeting</h3> <p class='date'>Tuesday, July 2, 2024</p> </a> <div class='clear'></div> <li class=''><a target='_top' href='https://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=221916'><div class='thumbnail'><img onerror='this.src="/assets/global/images/unavailable-minipic.jpg";' src='/today/intra_pics/2024/05/asr-photo2-550px.jpg' alt='Daniel Vrinceanu' /></div> <h3>Daniel Vrinceanu: Champion of Science for the Underrepresented</h3> <p class='date'>Friday, May 31, 2024</p> </a> <div class='clear'></div> <li class=''><a target='_top' href='https://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=121811'><div class='thumbnail'><img onerror='this.src="/assets/global/images/unavailable-minipic.jpg";' src='/today/intra_pics/2024/04/2024-03-26-1757-0113-550px.jpg' alt='sPHENIX and STAR detectors' /></div> <h3>Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider Begins Run 24</h3> <p class='date'>Monday, April 15, 2024</p> </a> <div class='clear'></div> </ul> </div> </div> <div class="noContainer"> <div class='videoPlayer'> <div class='flash-center' style='width:2400px;'> <div class='flash-player responsiveVideo'> <iframe width='2400' height='1350' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/WYxZCMknuNQ?rel=0&fs=0&wmode=transparent&showinfo=0&hd=1&autoplay=0' frameborder='0' allowfullscreen></iframe> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="midRibbon one"> <div class="container_24"> <div class="grid_15 suffix_1"> <h3>Ultracold superconductor</h3> <p>Unlike simple refrigerator magnets, a superconducting solenoid is a complex electromagnetic machine in which a powerful magnetic field is generated by running electricity through coils of superconducting wire. These wires can carry electrical current with no energy loss, but to operate they must be chilled to 4 degrees Kelvin, or -452 degrees Fahrenheit. The sPHENIX assembly will include pipes with valves and joints that make up a cryogenic system for circulating super-cold liquid helium to cool the superconducting coils, and external power supplies to deliver the field-generating current.</p> <h3>Inner and outer calorimeters</h3> <p>Detector components called <a href="https://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=26385">calorimeters</a> arrayed within and around the central core of the sPHENIX magnet will measure the energy and other properties of particles emitted from each collision. By adding up the energy of the sprays of particles emitted when high-energy quarks and gluons traverse the quark-gluon plasma (QGP)—and how much energy these particles lose along the way—physicists hope to understand how the QGP’s remarkable properties emerge from the individual quark and gluon interactions.</p> </div> <div class="grid_8"> <img alt="photo of scintillating fibers" class="fwd fwm" src="images/tungsten-brick-2.jpg" /> <p class="caption">A closeup of the scintillating fibers traversing one of the tungsten bricks designed to track electrons and photons in the sPHENIX electromagnetic calorimeter. </p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="midRibbon two"> <div class="container_24"> <div class="grid_16"> <img alt="computer rendering of the sPHENIX detector" style="display:block;" class="fwd" src="images/spheix-rendering.jpg" /> </div> <div class="grid_8"> <h3 style="margin-top:4em;">Speed and precision</h3> <p class="font-plus-1"> With a superconducting solenoid magnet recycled from a physics experiment at DOE’s SLAC National Laboratory at its core, state-of-the-art particle-tracking detectors, and an array of novel high-acceptance calorimeters, sPHENIX will have the speed and precision needed to track and study the details of particle jets, heavy quarks, and rare, high-momentum particles produced in RHIC's most energetic collisions. These capabilities will allow nuclear physicists to probe properties of the quark-gluon plasma at varying length scales to make connections between the interactions among individual quarks and gluons and the collective behavior of the liquid-like primordial plasma. </p> </div> </div> </div>  </div> <div id="topOfPage"><span class="fa fa-chevron-circle-up fa-lg topOfPageTrigger"></span></div> <div class="footer" id="footer" > <div class="container_24"> <div class="grid_6"> <h3 id="BNL">Brookhaven National Laboratory</h3> <p>PO Box 5000<br/> Upton, NY 11973-5000<br/> (631) 344-8000</p> <p><a id="contactUs" class="extrasmall white button" href="https://www.bnl.gov/contact-us/">Contact us</a></p> <ul class="socialMediaIcons"> <li><a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/BrookhavenLab" title="Follow Us on 𝕏"><i class="fa-brands fa-square-x-twitter fa-2x"></i></a> <li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.facebook.com/brookhavenlab" title="Follow Us on Facebook"><span class="fa fa-facebook-square fa-2x"></span></a> <li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.instagram.com/brookhavenlab/" title="Follow Us on Instagram"><span class="fa fa-instagram fa-2x"></span></a> <li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/brookhavenlab/" title="Follow Us on LinkedIn"><span class="fa fa-linkedin-square fa-2x"></span></a> <li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/BrookhavenLab" title="Follow Us on YouTube"><span class="fa fa-youtube-square fa-2x"></span></a> <li><a target="_blank" href="http://www.flickr.com/brookhavenlab/" title="Follow Us on Flickr"><span class="fa fa-flickr fa-2x"></span></a> </ul> </div> <div class="grid_3"> <ul class="linkList2"> <li><a href="https://www.bnl.gov/science/">Our Science</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.bnl.gov/about/">About</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.bnl.gov/about/history/">History</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.bnl.gov/about/org/">Leadership</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.bnl.gov/visiting/">Visiting the Lab</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.bnl.gov/siteindex/">Site Index</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.bnl.gov/directory/">Staff Directory</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="grid_3"> <ul class="linkList2"> <li><a target="_blank" href="https://jobs.bnl.gov/">Careers</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.bnl.gov/science/facilities.php">Facilities</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.bnl.gov/guv/">Guest Center</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.bnl.gov/partner/">Partnerships</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.bnl.gov/ppm/">For Vendors</a></li> <li><a id="deptLink" href="javascript:void(0);">Departments</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.bnl.gov/visiting/events/">Public Events</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="grid_4"> <ul class="linkList2 lastList"> <li><a href="https://www.bnl.gov/techtransfer/">Technology Licensing</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.bnl.gov/externalaffairs/">Stakeholder Relations</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.bnl.gov/education/">Students & Educators</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.bnl.gov/about/sustainability/">Sustainability</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.bnl.gov/privacy/">Privacy and Security Notice</a></li> <li><a target="_blank" href="http://www.energy.gov/vulnerability-disclosure-policy">Vulnerability Disclosure Program</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="grid_7 prefix_1"> <h3 id="BSA">Brookhaven Science Associates</h3> <p>Brookhaven Science Associates manages and operates Brookhaven National Laboratory on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. 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