Understanding the properties of microscopic systems made of a large number of interacting particles, particularly in the case where the system is subject to extreme conditions of temperature and density, is a fundamental challenge in physics. This project concerns a study of properties of new phases of matter, ranging from ultrahigh density (quark-gluon plasmas) formed in highly energetic collisions of atomic nuclei -- the hottest matter in the universe -- to the matter inside neutron stars, which are stars so squeezed by gravity that they are less than 20 miles across, to states of matter in trapped atomic gases -- the coldest matter in the universe. This interdisciplinary study of many-particle physics leverages a wide spectrum of research in quantum fluids, atomic, nuclear, and astrophysics. Understanding new states of matter and connections between them provides deeper insights into the laws governing the microscopic universe and the basic properties of the world we live in. At the same time, important technological applications have the potential to flow from understanding the properties of matter under extreme conditions. This research will build new bridges between atomic physics and condensed matter and nuclear physics and provides an excellent training opportunity for junior researchers to think and create across disciplines.
This project centers on nuclear aspects of matter under extreme conditions of energy and density. Advances in neutron star physics in recent years, from observations of neutron stars with masses ~ 2.0 solar masses, to early inferences of mass-radius relations, to an emerging understanding in quantum chromodynamics of how nuclear matter turns into deconfined quark matter at high baryon densities, set the stage for the project's research on matter in neutron star interiors. The PI and his collaborators will explore new research ideas, such as the study of optical properties of highly magnetized atoms at the surfaces of neutron stars, polarization of dileptons as a realistic probe of the anisotropies in ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions at early time, damping of gravitational waves by matter, and many particle effects in measurements of electric dipole moments of neutrons, protons, and electrons. The PI's research in one area frequently generates new insights and approaches in other areas, e.g., studies of nuclear pion condensation and on dense quark matter informing work on spin-orbit coupling in cold atoms, and work on ultracold fermions informing understanding of strongly interacting quark matter.
