麻豆传媒

and , both assistant professors in the department of physics and astronomy, are among 93 scientists selected from across the nation to receive significant funding for research as part of the .

The awards aim to bolster the nation鈥檚 scientific workforce by supporting exceptional researchers at the outset of their careers鈥攚hen many scientists do their most formative work. Winners represent 48 universities and 12 national labs in 27 states.

Kunnawalkam Elayavalli鈥檚 and Paquet鈥檚 projects will use complementary techniques to study the properties of quarks and gluons鈥攖he smaller constituents of protons and neutrons that form atomic nuclei. By colliding nuclei at velocities near the speed of light, a plasma of quarks and gluons can be produced with a temperature so high that it recreates the conditions that existed a few microseconds after the Big Bang. Each project will receive $875,000 over five years.

鈥淭hese highly competitive early career awards from the U.S. Department of Energy鈥檚 Office of Science reflect the exceptional talent of our distinguished 麻豆传媒 faculty and underscore the transformative power of their research in shaping our understanding of our cosmos,鈥� said C. Cybele Raver, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs. 鈥淚 offer my heartiest聽congratulations聽to Drs. Kunnawalkam Elayavalli and Paquet and the 迟别补尘.鈥�

Kunnawalkam Elayavalli鈥檚 project is 鈥淢apping the space-time evolution of the quark-gluon plasma at Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider.鈥� Paquet鈥檚 project is 鈥淢ultimessenger tomography of ultrarelativistic nuclear collisions.鈥�

Quarks and gluons are fundamental building blocks of the observable universe, Kunnawalkam Elayavalli said. Colliding them produces particles that can be observed with state-of-the-art particle detectors.

鈥淥ne of the biggest unsolved mysteries in nature is in quantifying the mechanism by which quarks and gluons metamorphosize into stable particles that make up what we see all around us,鈥� said Kunnawalkam Elayavalli, who also is an assistant professor of astronomy. 鈥淭he results of our project will enable us to extract the dynamics of quarks and gluons for the first time in high-energy nuclear physics.鈥�

Through this grant, they will be among the earliest researchers to leverage data captured by the , a 1,000-ton 3D digital camera that just started taking data this year.

The early-career grant is an affirmation of Kunnawalkam Elayavalli’s research hopes, interests and goals, they added, and the DOE鈥檚 support provides 鈥渁n awesome opportunity for students and postdocs from my group to express their creativity and scientific rigor.鈥�

Paquet鈥檚 project investigates how plasma transitions from liquid to gas phases, and the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider can measure the light produced by quark-gluon plasma in nuclear collisions.

鈥淭he light鈥檚 energy spectrum and its direction of emission provide a unique window into the properties of the hottest regions of the plasma,鈥� Paquet said. 鈥淪tudying how the viscosity of the quark-gluon plasma changes with temperature will offer valuable insights into the plasma鈥檚 transition from a liquid to a gas phase.鈥�

He called the early-career award a great honor that is invaluable to his research, making it possible 鈥渢o investigate the hottest and densest phase of nuclear matter ever produced in the laboratory.鈥�

鈥淪tudying collisions of nuclei provides an opportunity to explore so many cutting-edge areas of physics and mathematics鈥攆rom the fusion of relativity and fluid dynamics to non-equilibrium statistical physics to machine learning,鈥� Paquet said. 鈥淚 am grateful to the Department of Energy and its Office of Science for their support.鈥�

Such awards afford scientists the freedom to find the answers to science鈥檚 most complex questions as they establish themselves as experts in their fields, U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm:

鈥淪upporting America鈥檚 scientists and researchers early in their careers will ensure the U.S. remains at the forefront of scientific discovery and develops the solutions to our most pressing challenges.鈥�