Measuring dN_ch/dη for Au+Au Collisions Using the sPHENIX Event Plane Detector

Quark–gluon plasma (QGP), often called the "perfect liquid" for its exceptionally low shear viscosity and high flow, is a substance composed of quarks and gluons. It is formed after high energy collisions between heavy-ions occur, however is incredibly short lived, and effectively can not be probed directly. Thus we are forced to measure it via the particles formed directly after the QGP dissipates. This study will specifically revolve around the process of creating a dNch/dEta histogram for 100,000 collisions at 200 GeV. We are able to measure these collisions via the sPHENIX Event Plane Detector (sEPD), an experiment located within Brookhaven National Laboratory's Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC). The data collected by the sEPD is then analyzed in order to approximate the multiplicity of each collision, along with its pseudorapidity via the detector's geometry as well. Using these approximations, we are then able to create our dNch/dEta histogram, which confirms the higher density of particles created near the midrapidity region of the detector.