High-Energy Nuclear Physics Research - Experiment

Our research is conducted within major international facilities, including the STAR experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory (USA), the ALICE experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN (Europe), the MPD experiment at the Nuclotron-based Ion Collider fAcility (NICA) at JINR Dubna (Russia), and the upcoming High-Energy Terminal of the High-Intensity Heavy-Ion Accelerator Facility (HIAF) in Huizhou (China).

We aim to precisely characterize the properties, phases, and structures of nuclear matter under extreme conditions of high temperature and high baryon density. Our ultimate goal is to uncover the fundamental laws of the strong interaction, thereby advancing our understanding of the matter created in the early universe shortly after the Big Bang, as well as the dense matter inside neutron stars.

Research Directions and Interests:

1. Probing the quark–gluon plasma (QGP) with heavy-flavor quarks;

2. Exploring the QCD phase structure with strange quarks;

3. Investigating hot and dense nuclear matter with dilepton probes;

4. Developing and testing novel detector technologies for next-generation high-energy nuclear physics experiments;

5. Applying and advancing machine learning methods in high-energy nuclear physics.

2012/09--2017/06  University of Science and Technology of China, Doctor of Natural Science in Physics

Work Experience

• ​2022 - Present, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Assistant Professor
• 2019 - 2022, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Postdoctoral Fellow
• 2017 - 2019, University of Illinois at Chicago, Postdoctoral Fellow

Experimental Participation

• 2014 – STAR experiment

• 2024 – MPD experiment

• 2025 – ALICE experiment

• 2025 – HIAF High-Energy Terminal experiment

Academic Service

• 2021 – Convener of the Beam Energy Scan (BES) session, RHIC&AGS Annual Users’ Meeting

• 2024 – present – Convener of the Light-Flavor and Ultra-Peripheral Collisions Physics Working Group (LFSUPC PWG), STAR Collaboration

• Reviewer for journals including Nuclear Science and Techniques (NST), European Physical Journal (EPJ)

Principle Authors：

• M. S. Abdallah, et al.,(STAR Collaboration), “Strangeness Production in √s_NN =3 GeV Au+Au Collisions at RHIC” - Journal of High Energy Physics 10 (2024) 139 
• M. S. Abdallah, et al., (STAR Collaboration), “Production of Protons and Light Nuclei in Au+Au Collisions at √s_NN = 3 GeV with the STAR Detector” - Phys. Rev. C 110, 054911 (2024) 
• M. S. Abdallah, et al., (STAR Collaboration), “Measurements of Λ3H and Λ4H Lifetimes and Yields in Au+Au Collisions in the High Baryon Density Region” - Phys. Rev. Lett. 128, 202301 (2022)
• M. S. Abdallah,(STAR Collaboration), “Probing Strangeness Canonical Ensemble with K−, ϕ(1020) and Xi− Production in Au+Au Collisions at √s_NN =3GeV” - Phys. Lett. B 831, 137152 (2022)
• M. S. Abdallah, et al., (STAR Collaboration), “Disappearance of partonic collectivity in √s_NN =3GeV Au+Au collisions at RHIC”,  - Phys. Lett. B 827, 137003 (2022)
• J. Adam, et al., (STAR Collaboration), “Centrality and transverse momentum dependence of D0-meson production at mid-rapidity in Au+Au collisions at √s_NN =200GeV” - Phys. Rev. C 99, 034908 (2019)
• L. Adamczyk, et al.,(STAR Collaboration), “First measurement of Λc baryon production in Au+Au collisions at √s_NN = 200 GeV”.  - Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 172301 (2020)
• L. Adamczyk, et al., (STAR Collaboration), “Measurement of D0 azimuthal anisotropy at mid-rapidity in Au+Au collisions at √s_NN = 200 GeV” - Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 212301 (2017) 

Few authors paper:

• L. Liu, X. He, G. Xie et al., “Light and hyper nuclei formation at √s_NN = 3GeV Au+Au collisions using Wigner coalescence approach” - Phys. Lett. B 855 (2024) 138853
• J. D. Brandenburg, X. Sun, G. Xie et al, “The STAR Forward Silicon Tracker” - Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A 1072 (2025) 170202
• J. Chen, G. Xie et al, “Properties of the QCD Matter -- An Experimental Review of Selected Results from RHIC BES Program” - Nuclear Science and Techniques (2024) 35:214
• Z. Yuan, A. Huang, G. Xie et al, “Exploring the chiral magnetic effect in isobar collisions through Chiral Anomaly Transport" - Phys. Rev. C 111 (2025) 4, 044913
  

We maintain close collaborations with leading international institutions such as Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), and the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) in the United States, as well as with major research centers in China including the Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IMP-CAS), the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Tsinghua University, and Central China Normal University (CCNU).

Our team is also an active member of several large-scale international collaborations:

• RHIC-STAR Collaboration: https://www.star.bnl.gov/

• NICA-MPD Collaboration: https://nica.jinr.ru/

• LHC-ALICE Collaboration: https://alice-collaboration.web.cern.ch/

现指导学生

郝允祥  硕士研究生  070202-粒子物理与原子核物理  

郑璋玮  硕士研究生  070202-粒子物理与原子核物理  

谭振乾  博士研究生  070202-粒子物理与原子核物理  

郑光裕  博士研究生  070202-粒子物理与原子核物理  

Particle and Nuclear physics

High energy heavy ion collision experiment, QCD phase structure

Our group is actively recruiting Master’s and Ph.D. students, as well as postdoctoral research fellows in the field of experimental particle and nuclear physics.

• 1–2 direct Ph.D. positions are available each year

• Highly motivated undergraduate students are also welcome to join our Student Innovation Program

• Excellent international students are welcome to apply for ANSO, Chinese Government Scholarship and other Scholarships to join our group for study and research

We provide a stimulating research environment, opportunities to participate in major international collaborations (RHIC-STAR, LHC-ALICE, NICA-MPD, HIAF, etc.), and strong support for career development. Students with enthusiasm for high-energy nuclear physics are encouraged to apply and become part of our team.