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Steffen A. Bass CV

Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor of Physics
Physics
Box 90305, Durham, NC 27708-0305
261B Physics, Durham, NC 27708
CV

Overview


Prof. Bass does research at the intersection of theoretical nuclear and particle physics, in particular studying highly energetic collisions of heavy nuclei, with which one aims to create a primordial state of matter at extremely high temperatures and densities (the Quark-Gluon-Plasma) that resembles the composition of the early Universe shortly after the Big Bang. 

It has been only in the last two decades that accelerators have been in operation that give us the capabilities to create the conditions of temperature and density in the laboratory that are favorable for the Quark-Gluon-Plasma  (QGP) to exist. The Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory and the accompaniment of detector systems were built specifically to observe and study this phase of matter. Similar studies have recently commenced at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The experiments at RHIC have discovered a new form of ultra-dense matter with unprecedented properties, a plasma composed of unbound quarks and gluons, that appears to behave as a nearly ``perfect liquid.''

Prof. Bass is a leading expert in the phenomenology of the Quark-Gluon-Plasma (QGP) and in knowledge extraction from large scale data sets via computational modeling. He is best known for his work developing a variety of computational models for the description of these ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions, as well as for his contributions to the phenomenology of the QGP and the determination of the shear viscosity of the QGP.

 Prof. Bass is a member of the Divisions of Nuclear and Computational Physics of the American Physical Society. He has published more than 160 peer-reviewed articles. He is a member of the Editorial Board of Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics.  In 2014 he was named Outstanding Referee for APS Journals and was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society.

Current Appointments & Affiliations


Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor of Physics · 2020 - Present Physics, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Professor of Physics · 2012 - Present Physics, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Chair of Physics · 2019 - Present Physics, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences

In the News


Published December 5, 2024
Series on Failure: A Humbling Moment Leads the Way to Success
Published April 19, 2005
Early Universe was 'liquid-like'

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Recent Publications


Non-equilibrium effects and spherocity in relativistic proton-nucleus collisions

Journal Article Nuovo Cimento della Societa Italiana di Fisica C · January 1, 2025 We examine nonequilibrium dynamics in proton-nucleus collisions at LHC energy by comparing the Parton-Hadron-String-Dynamics (PHSD) transport approach with the (2+1)dimensional viscous hydrodynamic model VISHNew. The latter is initialized with initial cond ... Full text Cite

Hard jet substructure in a multistage approach

Journal Article Physical Review C · October 1, 2024 We present predictions and postdictions for a wide variety of hard jet-substructure observables using a multistage model within the jetscape framework. The details of the multistage model and the various parameter choices are described in [Phys. Rev. C 107 ... Full text Cite

Lattice-based equation of state with 3D ising critical point

Conference EPJ Web of Conferences · June 26, 2024 The BEST Collaboration equation of state combining lattice data with the 3D Ising critical point encounters limitations due to the truncated Taylor expansion up to µB/T ∼ 2.5. This truncation consequently restricts its applicability at high densities. Thro ... Full text Cite
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Recent Grants


Heavy-Flavor Theory (HEFTY) for QCD Matter

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Texas A&M University · 2023 - 2028

Nuclear Physics at Extreme Energy Density

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Department of Energy · 2005 - 2026

ORNL/Duke Collaboration and Program Development

Institutional SupportPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Oak Ridge National Laboratory · 2011 - 2025

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Education, Training & Certifications


Goethe Universitat Frankfurt Am Main (Germany) · 1997 Ph.D.
Goethe Universitat Frankfurt Am Main (Germany) · 1993 M.S.