(Search for strange quark matter and antimatter produced in high energy heavy ion collisions)

Abstract

This document describes the development and progress of our group's research program in high energy heavy ion physics. We are a subset of the Yale experimental high energy physics effort (YAUG group) who became interested in the physics of high energy heavy ions in 1988. Our interest began with the possibility of performing significant searches for strange quark matter. As we learned more about the subject and as we gained experimental experience through our participation in AGS experiment 814, our interests have broadened. Our program has focused on the study of new particles, including (but not exclusively) strange quark matter, and the high sensitivity measurement of other composite nuclear systems such as antinuclei and various light nuclei. The importance of measurements of the known, but rare, nuclear systems lies in the study of production mechanisms. A good understanding of the physics and phenomenology of rare composite particle production in essential for the interpretation of limits to strange quark matter searches. We believe that such studies will also be useful in probing the mechanisms involved in the collision process itself. We have been involved in the running and data analysis for AGS E814. We have also worked on the R D for AGS E864, which is an approved experiment designed to reach sensitivities where there will be a good chance of discovering strangelets or of setting significant limits on the parameters of strange quark matter.