Title: Electron Ion Collider: Science and journey to its realization

Speaker: Prof. Abhay Deshpande, CFNS, Stony Brook University and Brookhaven National Lab

Abstract: Endorsement of the science case of the Electron Ion Collider (EIC) in 2019 by the US National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine concurred in 2018 triggered the move by the US Department of Energy (DoE) to initiate the EIC Project to realize the EIC in 2020. The three pillars of its science : the origin of protonâEUR(tm)s mass, spin and investigation of high gluon fields inside the nuclei at the highest energies âEUR" all centered around somewhat surprising deficit of our understanding of the role of gluons in QCD âEUR" are the central goals of investigations of this future QCD machine. Due to its high luminosity coupled with variable energy & polarization of beams, aspects of beyond the Standard Model physics also come in to its purview. Diversity of the physics program will offer a broad range of opportunities for nuclear to particle physicists. The versatility in operations demanded by the physics program makes the EIC one of the most challenging machine ever to be built, presenting exciting research opportunities for accelerator scientists as well. International collaborations are now being formed both on the detector and on the accelerator. Twenty Indian institutions have joined the detector (ePIC) collaboration (2nd largest single group). The EIC is expected to start taking data in early 2030âEUR(tm)s.

In this talk, I will review the science of EIC, and comment on the current activities of the project including on the theoretical development on refining the science case, detector design, planning and start of construction. There are ample opportunities for early career (students, postdoctoral fellows) and senior scientists to participate and make impactful contributions. There is high interest to enhance US-India collaborations on various fronts related to the EIC.