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Article

Probing Dense Nuclear Matter in the Laboratory

MAY 01, 1993
Colliding heavy ions offer a glimpse of nuclear matter at densities and temperatures that previously were exclusive to the extraterrestrial domain.
Subal Das Gupta
Gary D. Westfall

A 150‐meter‐long outdoor beam line wanders through eucalyptus trees down the 45‐meter slope connecting the SuperHILAC and the Bevatron at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. The SuperHILAC is a linear accelerator designed to accelerate heavy nuclei at high intensities to energies of up to 8 MeV/nucleon for the purpose of studying heavy and superheavy elements. The Bevatron is a weak focusing synchrotron born in 1954 with the mission of discovering the antiproton and exploring the riddle of the hadrons using beams of 6.2‐GeV protons. In 1974 these two machines were coupled to create the Bevalac, and with it a new field of research: relativistic heavy‐ion reactions.

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More about the authors

Subal Das Gupta, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.

Gary D. Westfall, Michigan State, University.

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This Content Appeared In
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Volume 46, Number 5

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