All articles tagged with #heavy ion collisions
MIT and CERN recreated early-universe conditions by colliding lead ions at near-light speed in the LHC, tracing how quarks slow and generate a wake in quark-gluon plasma, providing definitive evidence that this primordial soup behaves like a liquid rather than a gas, with implications for understanding the birth of matter.
Physicists at the Large Hadron Collider recreated brief, Big-Bang–like conditions by colliding heavy nuclei, forming a droplet of quark-gluon plasma that behaves more like a liquid than a gas. By tagging quarks with Z bosons, researchers observed a tiny wake and a sub-percent dip in particle production, indicating energy transfer to the plasma and opening new avenues to study the primordial state of matter, as reported in Physics Letters B.
Beams have been injected into the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) ahead of schedule, following the repair of a vacuum leak. The LHC will now undergo recommissioning and fine-tuning to ensure it is ready for physics research. The focus for the rest of the year will be on heavy ion physics, with a proton-proton reference run followed by lead ion collisions. The resumption of beam operation is a testament to the dedication and innovation of CERN's scientific and technical teams.
Scientists using the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) have published their first data showing how three distinct variations of particles called upsilons sequentially "melt," or dissociate, in the hot quark-gluon plasma. The findings will help scientists learn about the properties of the QGP, including its temperature.