Why we need an electron-ion collider

Abstract

We present a brief argument making the science case for an electron-ion collider. The EIC will provide three dimensional spatial and momentum "snapshots" of matter down to 10-18 meters, allowing us to construct a dynamical picture of how fundamental quarks and gluons make up the structure of nucleons and nuclei (image from the EIC white paper arXiv:1212.1701, used with permission from the authors).