20 Years of RHIC and Beyond - Frontiers of Discovery in Quark Gluon Plasma

Explore the groundbreaking discoveries and implications of the RHIC accelerator in this 43-minute plenary session talk by Larry McLerran. Delve into the properties of the Quark Gluon Plasma, including its equation of state and space-time evolution. Learn about the flow of matter in ultra-relativistic nuclear collisions and jet-quenching phenomena. Discover how RHIC's accomplishments have influenced other experimental programs, such as the Large Hadron Collider and the Electron Ion Collider. Examine new concepts like the Color Glass Condensate and its importance in early-stage hadronic collisions. Investigate recent findings from neutron star studies and LIGO gravitational wave experiments, revealing dramatic changes in baryon-rich matter at high densities. Gain insights into future research directions at facilities like NICA, FAIR, and RHIC's low energy heavy ion runs.