RIKEN Accel. Prog. Rep. 50 (2017)

Research Activities 1991–2016

RBRC: A great successNicholas P. Samios ∗1and both transverse and longitudinal proton polarizations. This machine has recently attained forty times
its design luminosity. 2) The Phenix Detector for which
RIKEN supplied the second muon arm and has had
an extraordinary enriched publication record in both
QCD and Spin. 3) A series of lattice gauge computers
QCDSP (1 TFLOPS), QCDOC (10 TFLOPS), QCDCQ(700 TFLOPS), the latter being a prototype for theIBM Blue Gene. These were developed by a large collaboration including Columbia U, Edinborough, RBRC
and IBM and for which RIKEN made the major monetary contributions.
What has emerged has been a profusion greater than
1000 in refereed journals and conferences, a plethora ofwork shops greater than 100 and numerous awards forcomputer performance. Among the most notable ﬁndings have been 1) the discovery of the strongly interacting quark gluon plasma (sQGP) or a perfect liquida new form of matter whose nature is being exploredand deciphered, 2) dynamics of gluon saturation andthe color glass condensate, 3) chiral symmetry and its
implications and restoration,4) the gluon contribution
to the spin of the proton where it now appears to belarger than that of the quarks, 5) lattice calculation of
the CP violation in Kaon decays. RBRC has been amajor contributor to all these methods.
It has been an outstanding twenty years and one islooking forward to an equally productive future.

This year, 2017, marks the twentieth anniversary of
the establishment of the RIKEN BNL Research Center(RBRC). It’s great success is attributable to the amiable, constructive cooperation of many enlightened individuals involved in its establishment and subsequent
sustainability. Equally relevant and important havebeen the management structures, review procedures established by RIKEN, BNL and RBRC. These involved
the Management Steering Committee, Scientiﬁc Review Committee and Theory, Lattice and Experimental
Advisory Committees. These were augmented by theNishina Center and RIKEN reviews established for theconsideration of the formal renewal of the RBRC, usually every ﬁve years, the fourth such successful review
having taken place this year 2017. This has produced ofthe order of 100 outstanding fellow and post-doc graduates that now occupy leading positions at major national and international institutions.
The mission of RBRC is dedicated to the study of thestrong interactions, including spin-physics, lattice QCD
and RHIC (Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider). This is facilitated through the establishment of both the theoretical and experimental component, consisting of fellow
and post-doctoral positions. Activities have centeredaround: 1) RHIC which is ﬁnishing its seventeenth yearof operation having accelerated ions ranging from protons and deuterons to gold and uranium, equal and unequal species, energies from ﬁve GeV/A to 100 GeV/AFig. 1. A photo taken at the signing of the memorandum of understanding in 1997 for the establishmentof RBRC with (front, seated from left) Satoshi Ozaki, Head of BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider
Project; the author, BNL Director; T.D. Lee, RBRC Director; (back, standing from left) Henry Grahn,
Associate Director for Administration; Peter Bond, Chair of BNL Physics Department; Thomas Kirk,
BNL Associate Director for High-Energy & Nuclear Physics.
∗1Director of RIKEN BNL Research Center (2003–2012)

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