The Electron Ion Collider: Exploring the mysteries of the building blocks of matter

The Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) is a powerful new facility to be built in the United States at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory in partnership with Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. The EIC will study the substructure of protons, neutrons, and atomic nuclei with the most powerful electron microscope, combining versatility, resolving power and intensity, ever built. The resolution and intensity are achieved by colliding high-energy electrons with high-energy protons or (a range of different) ion beams. The EIC provides the capability of colliding beams of polarized electrons with polarized beams of light ions, and this all at high intensity. Its focus is to reveal how the most fundamental building blocks of visible matter interact to build up the structure and properties of everything we see in the universe today, from atomic nuclei to planets to people.