- James E. Draper
- Professor Emeritus
- Ph.D. - Cornell University, 1952
Our group in relativistic nuclear physics is analysing the properties of
the thousands of particles that are produced when Au nuclei are crashed
into other Au nuclei at RHIC (Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider) at BNL
(Brookhaven National Lab). These nuclei are moving so fast that each has a
mass energy 100 times their mass at rest. These particles are analysed in
STAR (Solenoidal TrackER At RHIC) using the STAR Time Projection
Chamber. The total energy in such Au-Au collisions is the largest in the
world. A major component of these studies is to search for evidence of
formation of the QGP (Quark Gluon Plamsa) likely to be formed in such Au-Au
collisions. This is theoretically expected to occur when the energy
density is so high that quarks are no longer confined to individual
nucleons (3 per nucleon). The nuclei are so squished that the quarks roam
and strongly interact via gluons through a volume several hundred times as
large as their original nucleon, a situation like the universe a few 10s of
microseconds after the Big Bang. RHIC has been operating since ~2000 and
is producing many very interesting results. The QGP is likely to have been
observed experimentally at RHIC but many more experimental signatures of
the QGP must be studied and sharpened to afford understanding.
JED was primarily responsible for the conceptual technical design and proof
of principal of the two FTPCs (Forward Time Projection Chamber) at
STAR. The final hardware design and construction of the two FTPC's was
made by the Max Planck Institute in Munich. He was a member of the STAR
Council, participates in the physics implications of the data, and has
served on a number of publication committees (small) to QA the final
content of individual publications in journals by STAR.
Honors and Awards
for
James E. Draper
- Elected Fellow of the American Physical Society.
- Consultant at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, 1980-present.
- Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
- Formerly Associate Professor at Yale University.
- Fellow of Jonathan Edwards College at Yale University.
- Formal invitation to submit application for Guggenheim Fellowship.
- Elected to Phi Beta Kappa and to Sigma Xi.
- Valedictorian at Williams College class.
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