heavy ion

To recreate conditions similar to those of the very early universe, powerful accelerators make head-on collisions between massive ions, such as gold or lead nuclei. Learn more about CERN's heavy ion collisions here.
51 results

Accelerator Report: The excellent 2024 LHC run ended abruptly

The LHC was scheduled to conclude its outstanding 2024 run on 25 November, but a massive magnet quench brought it to an end two days early

News
Accelerators
29 November, 2024
Accelerators
News
29 November, 2024

ATLAS observes top quarks in lead–lead collisions

The result opens a new window into the study of the quark–gluon plasma that is believed to have filled the Universe briefly after the Big Bang

News
Physics
15 November, 2024

Record data for the LHC in 2024

The LHC’s tenth year of operation ends with exceptional data collection

News
Accelerators
25 November, 2024
Accelerators
News
25 November, 2024

Accelerator Report: Lead ions at the heart of the accelerator complex

Lead-ion physics at the LHC and the SPS North Area is already under way and progressing well. The final lead-ion user in the PS East Area started its physics run on 13 November

News
Accelerators
14 November, 2024
Accelerators
News
14 November, 2024

Heavy-ion run at the LHC begins

For the next 17 days, every minute counts when it comes to taking lead–lead collision data

News
Experiments
06 November, 2024
Experiments
News
06 November, 2024

Accelerator Report: Lead ions take the stage

As the LHC and SPS wrap up their 2024 proton run, teams are making final preparations for the lead-ion physics run starting on 4 November

News
Accelerators
31 October, 2024
Accelerators
News
31 October, 2024

CMS uses photons to probe the structure of nuclei

Using data from the first heavy-ion run of LHC Run 3 in 2023, the experiment presents the first-ever measurement of D0 meson production in photon-lead collisions

News
Physics
25 October, 2024

Accelerator Report: Ending the 2024 LHC proton run on a high note

This year’s LHC proton run ended on 16 October, surpassing expectations with 11% more collisions than planned. Next up: the lead-ion run

News
Accelerators
17 October, 2024
Accelerators
News
17 October, 2024

Accelerator Report: Preparing the LHC and its injector complex for the 2024 lead-ion run

The physics run for the SPS North Area will start on 4 November, followed by the LHC lead-ion physics run on 6 November, and the PS East Area on 11 November

News
Accelerators
20 September, 2024
Accelerators
News
20 September, 2024

ALICE does the double slit

Using collisions between lead nuclei at the LHC, the ALICE collaboration has measured an interference pattern akin to that of the famous double-slit experiment

News
Physics
12 August, 2024
Physics
News
12 August, 2024

ALICE bags about twelve billion heavy-ion collisions

The whopping number of collisions recorded by ALICE during the recent five-week heavy-ion run of the LHC is 40 times greater than the total recorded by the experiment in its previous periods of heavy-ion data taking, from 2010 to 2018

News
Experiments
01 December, 2023
Experiments
News
01 December, 2023

Charm is better than beauty at going with the flow

New ALICE measurements shed light on the dynamics of charm and beauty particles in quark–gluon plasma

News
Physics
15 December, 2023