Heavy Ion Physics - Lecture 1

Explore the fundamentals of heavy ion physics in this comprehensive lecture, the first in a series delivered by Sadhana Dash at the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences. Delve into the key concepts and principles of heavy ion collisions as part of the International School and Workshop on Probing Hadron Structure at the Electron-Ion Collider. Gain insights into the upcoming electron-ion collider (EIC) at Brookhaven National Lab and its potential to revolutionize our understanding of proton and neutron structure. Learn about the distribution of quarks and gluons inside nucleons, the origin of visible matter's mass, the composition of proton spin, and the possibility of gluon saturation in heavy ion collisions. Discover how the EIC's high luminosity and wide kinematical coverage will provide unprecedented access to new information about nucleon structure.