The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) is the first and one of only two operating heavy-ion colliders, and the only spin-polarized proton collider ever built. Located at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, New York, and used by an international team of researchers, it was the last operating particle collider in the US; by colliding ions traveling at relativistic speeds, physicists use RHIC to study the primordial form of matter that existed in the universe shortly after the Big Bang. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
YearInfobox 'dates' field gives 2000-2026 as the facility's operating span; 2000 is recorded as the year the collider began operation, per the infobox rather than the lead, which states no specific year. Significanceis the first and one of only two operating heavy-ion colliders, and the only spin-polarized proton collider ever built 1 FAQs
Is the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider still running?
It ended data collection on 6 February 2026.
No. RHIC had its last collisions and ended data collection on 6 February 2026. In January 2020 the US Department of Energy Office of Science selected the eRHIC design for the future Electron-Ion Collider, which builds on the existing RHIC facility at Brookhaven National Laboratory.
Sources
1. Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationLead section
is the first and one of only two operating heavy-ion colliders, and the only spin-polarized proton collider ever built
Infobox, dates field
2000
status sentence
The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) is the first and one of only two operating heavy-ion colliders, and the only spin-polarized proton collider ever built.
In Group: Particle Colliders, Introduction
The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC ) is the first and one of only two operating heavy-ion colliders, and the only spin-polarized proton collider ever built.
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