Relativistic Heavy Ion Physics: Results from AGS to RHIC

Abstract

High-energy collisions of heavy ions provide a means to study QCD in a regime of high parton density, and may provide insight into its phase structure. Results from the four experiments at RHIC (BRAHMS, PHENIX, PHOBOS and STAR) are presented, and placed in context with the lower energy data from the AGS and SPS accelerators. The focus is on the insights these measurements provide into the time history of the collision process. Taken together, the data point to the creation of a deconfined state of matter that forms quickly, expands rapidly and freezes out suddenly.