Overview of recent results from the STAR experiment

TL;DR

The STAR experiment studies the properties of quark-gluon plasma and nuclear matter phases through recent high-energy collision results, addressing fundamental questions about QCD matter and phase transitions.

Contribution

This paper summarizes recent experimental findings from STAR that shed light on QGP properties and the QCD phase diagram at different baryon densities.

Findings

Measurements of QGP transport parameters ($/s$, $$, etc.)

Evidence for phase transition characteristics in heavy-ion collisions

Identification of potential critical point regions

Abstract

The Solenoidal Tracker at RHIC (STAR) experiment utilizes its excellent mid-rapidity tracking and particle identification capabilities to study the emergent properties of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). The STAR heavy-ion program at vanishingly small baryon density is aimed to address questions about the quantitative properties of the strongly-interacting Quark Gluon Plasma (QGP) matter created in high energy collisions ($\eta/s$, $\hat{q}$, chirality, transport parameters, heavy quark diffusion coefficients ...). At finite baryon density, the questions concern the phases of nuclear matter (the QCD phase diagram) and the nature of the phase transition, namely: what is the onset collision energy for the formation of QGP? What is the nature of phase transition in heavy-ion collisions? Are there two phase transition regions? If yes, where is the critical point situated? At Quark Matter 2015, the STAR collaboration has presented a wealth of new experimental results which address these questions. In these proceedings I highlight a few of those results.