Johann Rafelski, Homepage,
Professor of Physics, The University of Arizona Research profile
Communication: ++1 520 261 9959 (Google call world wide)
When in US: 520 990 4213 (connect to some social communicators world wide)
E-mail:
rafelski at gmail.com OR johannr at arizona.edu
Current Matters
Why Special Relativity Matters
Curriculum Vitae
Publications by Categories
Books authored and edited
Strangeness (and charm, bottom) publication list
Statistical Hadronization with Resonances: SHAREv3 with Charm
Student and Teaching information
List with pdf links of recent talks
Essay: How was QGP discovered?
Google Scholar list of publications
Research profile
Dr. Johann Rafelski is a theoretical physicist working for nearly 40 years at the University of Arizona (Tucson, USA). His research has focused on advancing the understanding of fundamental laws and principles in physics. He works in several disciplines of subatomic physics: He studies the behavior of matter under extreme temperature conditions and the effects of the strongest forces on matter and radiation. He studies how under such conditions the quantum vacuum is affected: He is widely recognized for study of quantum and classical behavior of particles subject to forces of extreme strength. He predicted strange particle observable of the new quark-gluon state of matter and proposed and developed the statistical hadronization model to describe the transformation processes into matter and antimatter. Related methods and results are applied to primordial Universe and in the study of table-top nuclear fusion with lasers and optoelectronic targets.
To put Rafelski's strong fields into a more general perspective recall how the formulation of Special Relativity in the early 20th century marked the beginning of the current era of modern physics. Rapid development continued with the discovery of quantum theory, which united with relativity resulted in the prediction of antimatter. The realization that a transformation of energy into matter is possible allowed in recent decades to describe the physical processes governing the Big Bang, see A Short Survey of Matter-Antimatter Evolution in the Primordial Universe; Universe 2023, 9, 309, pp1-49. Our current understanding of quantum theory shows that the structure and properties of the relativistic invariant quantum vacuum (i.e., the physical properties of the matter-free space) determine the laws of physics. This understanding and the potential for gaining control of the mutual energy and matter conversion could affect the future of humanity as significantly as the discoveries of last 150 years have done.
With collisions of atomic nuclei at the highest available energies, one can lay the groundwork for such investigations. The temperatures reached in laboratory - 300 million times hotter than the surface of the Sun - can transform the nuclear matter into a new phase of hot quarks and gluons. The vacuum forces surrounding the quarks are dissolved upon reaching such high temperatures. Rafelski has in decisive manner contributed to the creation and the development of this research program which allow study of the the properties of the primordial quark-gluon plasma in the laboratory at CERN in Geneva and at BNL in New York. Future dedicated experimental facilities are being readied e.g the FAIR project in Darmstadt, Germany. To study the behavior of the new quark-gluon state of matter, Dr. Rafelski deals with transformation processes of energy into matter and antimatter, and in particular with the production of strange quarks - see Discovery of Quark-Gluon Plasma: Strangness Diaries (EPJ-ST Volume 229, number 1, pp1-140, January 2020).
In investigating the behavior of individual particles under extreme conditions, Dr. Rafelski is especially interested in the effect of radiation, a vacuum frictional force caused by acceleration: Every charged accelerated body emits radiation which can change the particle dynamics decisively. Under these conditions, the force-field energy content can be converted into matter and antimatter. These processes help in the search for the mechanisms causing the formation of quark-gluon plasma. A related field of Dr. Rafelski’s work is the radiation generated by laser pulses.
Other areas of research that interested Dr. Rafelski in the past decade include: the postulated cosmic neutrino microwave background; vacuum fluctuations caused by elemental forces and their relation to dark energy; dark matter in the form of massive compact ultra-dense objects (CUDOs); and the application of laser pulses of high intensity to nuclear fusion energy production.
These research programs have led to the publication of a large number of scientific publications, mentoring of many students, and presentation of research textbooks. Furthermore Dr. Rafelski is interested in teaching students the basics of special relativity theory, an area needing modern context leading on above new fields of research and connecting to the historical developments. His books, "Relativity Matters" (Spring 2017) and "Modern Special Relativity" (Spring 2022) introduce graduate and undergraduate students to special relativity and instructs them on that subject through their careers while also explaining the current research topics introduced above.
Dr. Johann Rafelski is foreign member of Academia Europea, honorary (foreign) member of Hungarian Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS). While at University of Arizona, his sabbaticals took him to University Paris, CERN, LMU Munich where he held an Excellence Professorship of the German Research Foundation (DFG); he was a Fulbright Professor hosted by the Wigner Research Center in Budapest. Prof. Rafelski has been elected to the Faculty Senate of The University of Arizona multiple times since 2018 and is currently Senator at Large elected to represent the general University of Arizona faculty.
Created August 21, 2017, updated 2019-2026