Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC)

Particle accelerator

Appears in 1 story · Last updated Nov 1, 2026

Stories

Gold collisions at RHIC reveal unexpected dip in particle fluctuations

New Capabilities

Ceased operations in 2026

Physicists at Brookhaven National Laboratory smashed gold nuclei together at nearly light speed and found an unexpected pattern in the debris. The momentum of particles flung sideways from the collisions dipped, then rose again, as collision energy changed.

Updated Nov 1