Speaker
Description
The sPHENIX detector at BNL’s Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) will measure a suite of unique jet and jet and heavy flavor observables with unprecedented statistics and kinematic reach at RHIC energies. A MAPS-based vertex detector upgrade to sPHENIX, the MVTX, will provide a precise determination of the impact parameter of tracks relative to the primary vertex in high multiplicity heavy ion collisions. These new capabilities will enable precision measurements of open heavy flavor observables, covering an unexplored kinematic regime at RHIC. The physics program, its potential impact, and recent detector development will be discussed in this talk.