Investigation of Rare Particle Production in High Energy Nuclear Collisions

Our program is an investigation of the hadronization process through measurement of rare particle production in high energy nuclear interactions. Such collisions of heavy nuclei provide an environment similar in energy density to the conditions in the Big Bang. We are currently involved in two major experiments to study this environment, E896 at the AGS and STAR at RHIC. We have completed our physics running of E896, a search for the H dibaryon and measurement of hyperon production in AuAu collisions, and are in the process of analyzing the data. We have produced the electronics and software for the STAR trigger and will begin to use these tools to search for anti-nuclei and strange hadrons when RHIC turns on later this year