Science and the Status of the Electron Ion Collider

Abstract:
Despite the great success of QCD in explaining many observers phenomena related to the strong interactions in nature, its far from being fully understood. We do not fully understand the apparent infinite rise of the gluons (F2 structure function) observed at HERA at high energy, we do not quite understand how the properties of the proton, such as its spin, come about based on the knowledge of its constituent's properties and their confined motion inside the proton. Emergent phenomena involving gluons are suspected to be at the root of these still open questions. New experimental and theoretical tools have become available that promise to address these questions. I will present the open questions and give a few examples of how the election ion collider, currently being discussed in the US, would address them.