Nuclear Physics A 757 (2005) 28–101 The PHOBOS perspective on discoveries at RHIC PHOBOS Collaboration B.B. Back a , M.D. Baker b , M. Ballintijn d , D.S. Barton b , B. Becker b , R.R. Betts f , A.A. Bickley g , R. Bindel g , A. Budzanowski c , W. Busza d,∗ , A. Carroll b , Z. Chai b , M.P. Decowski d , E. García f , T. Gburek c , N.K. George a,b , K. Gulbrandsen d , S. Gushue b , C. Halliwell f , J. Hamblen h , A.S. Harrington h , M. Hauer b , G.A. Heintzelman b , C. Henderson d , D.J. Hofman f , R.S. Hollis f , R. Holy ´ nski c , B. Holzman b,f , A. Iordanova f , E. Johnson h , J.L. Kane d , J. Katzy d,f , N. Khan h , W. Kucewicz f , P. Kulinich d , C.M. Kuo e , J.W. Lee d , W.T. Lin e , S. Manly h , D. McLeod f , A.C. Mignerey g , R. Nouicer b,f , A. Olszewski c , R. Pak b , I.C. Park h , H. Pernegger d , C. Reed d , L.P. Remsberg b , M. Reuter f , C. Roland d , G. Roland d , L. Rosenberg d , J. Sagerer f , P. Sarin d , P. Sawicki c , H. Seals b , I. Sedykh b , W. Skulski h , C.E. Smith f , M.A. Stankiewicz b , P. Steinberg b , G.S.F. Stephans d , A. Sukhanov b , J.-L. Tang e , M.B. Tonjes g , A. Trzupek c , C.M. Vale d , G.J. van Nieuwenhuizen d , S.S. Vaurynovich d , R. Verdier d , G.I. Veres d , E. Wenger d , F.L.H. Wolfs h , B. Wosiek c , K. Wo´ zniak c , A.H. Wuosmaa a , B. Wyslouch d , J. Zhang d a Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439-4843, USA b Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973-5000, USA c Institute of Nuclear Physics PAN, Kraków, Poland d Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, USA e National Central University, Chung-Li, Taiwan f University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607-7059, USA g University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA h University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, USA Received 15 October 2004; received in revised form 29 March 2005; accepted 30 March 2005 Available online 13 April 2005 0375-9474/$ – see front matter  2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.nuclphysa.2005.03.084