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.
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
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
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
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
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