• A.B., 1966, Harvard
• Ph.D., 1970, University of California, Berkeley (G.F. Chew); Research Associate, 1970-72, MIT; Assistant Professor, 1972-78, MIT

Research Interests:

Professor DeTar's research centers on an investigation of the behavior of quantum chromodynamics (QCD), the theory of the strong interactions of quarks and gluons, as revealed through numerical simulations of lattice gauge theories. Recently, he has been studying the decays of mesons containing heavy quarks. Knowing precisely how the strong interactions influence the decay rates makes it possible to get precise values of some key fundamental constants in nature. In another project he is studying the behavior of matter at extremely high temperatures and densities. In this extreme environment an unusual phase of matter called a quark-gluon plasma appears. Such a phase may have occurred in the early universe and may be found today in compact stars. A quark-gluon plasma may also be produced for a fleeting instant in collisions of heavy ions in the laboratory and in cosmic rays. Outside the University of Utah, Professor DeTar collaborates with colleagues at the University of Arizona, University of California at Santa Barbara, University of Colorado, Florida State University, Indiana University, and Washington University. His research involves work with massively parallel computers at various national centers. His students develop and apply modern techniques of computational physics to fundamental problems.

Selected Recent Publications

• "The Hadronic Spectrum of the Quark Plasma" (with J.B. Kogut), Phys. Rev. Lett. 59, 399 (1987).
• "Quark Gluon Plasma in Numerical Simulations of Lattice QCD" in Quark Gluon Plasma, 2 ed. R. Hwa (World Scientific, Singapore, 1995).
• "Zero Temperature String Breaking in Lattice Quantum Chromodynamics" (with the MILC collaboration), Phys. Rev. D 64, 074509 (2001).
• "High Precision Lattice QCD Confronts Experiment" (with the Fermilab, HPQCD, MILC, and UKQCD collaborations), Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 022001 (2004).