The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider - From Decision to Precision

The 1983 decision in the U.S. Long Range Plan for Nuclear Science identifying a relativistic heavy  ion collider as “the highest priority new scientific opportunity within the purview of our science” led to the construction of RHIC, the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, located at Brookhaven National Laboratory. I will discuss the history of RHIC construction and operations, focusing on the major discoveries made and accelerator innovations which enabled them. While striking scientific findings emerged from RHIC from its first collisions in 2000 until its termination earlier this year, I will focus on those discoveries which revolutionized our understanding of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP), the state of matter which to a very good approximation was the universe a few microseconds after the Big Bang. I will emphasize the development of precision tools needed by the community of experimentalists and theorists working at RHIC to quantify the unique properties of the QGP.