Markus Mayer

I am a PhD student in the Institute for Theoretical Physics at the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. I joined the relativistic Astrophysics group of Prof. Luciano Rezzolla at the beginning of 2018. My research interests are heavy ion collisions, especially the effects of magnetic fields in such collisions.

Heavy ion collisions

One of the main reasons to study heavy ion collisions is the creation of the so called Quark Gluon Plasma (QGP). The QGP is a deconfined phase of strongly interacting matter and it is believed that it also existed immediately after the Big Bang. In other words, with heavy ion collisions, conditions similar to those that existed immediately after the creation of the universe can be recreated. Furthermore, the strongest  magnetic fields of the universe are created in such collisions. These magnetic fields cause some exciting effects (e.g. Chiral Magnetic Effect) that affect the particles that emerge from the QGP.