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.
41 results

LS2 Report: Linac3 tests new equipment for higher-intensity beams

Linac3 is already producing lead-ion beams to test some crucial new equipment that could significantly increase beam intensity and quality

News
Accelerators
24 November, 2020
Accelerators
News
24 November, 2020

ATLAS observes light scattering off light

The ATLAS Collaboration has reported the observation of light-by-light scattering with a significance beyond eight standard deviations

News
Physics
19 March, 2019

ESA subjects AI chip to tests at CERN

Intel’s new Myriad 2 chip underwent tests at CERN’s SPS

News
Knowledge sharing
04 December, 2018
Knowledge sharing
News
04 December, 2018

LHC report: make way for the heavy ions

The first collisions of lead nuclei mark the start of a new LHC heavy-ion run

News
Accelerators
13 November, 2018
Accelerators
News
13 November, 2018

LHC report: xenon in action

The LHC had the unique opportunity of colliding xenon nuclei over several hours

News
Accelerators
24 October, 2017
Accelerators
News
24 October, 2017

For one day only LHC collides xenon beams

The LHC is operating for several hours with the nuclei of xenon atoms

News
Accelerators
12 October, 2017
Accelerators
News
12 October, 2017

New ALICE results show novel phenomena in proton collisions

Published in Nature Physics ALICE reports proton collisions sometimes present similar patterns to those observed in the collisions of heavy nuclei

News
Experiments
05 May, 2017

A 30-year adventure with heavy ions

Three decades since the first ultra-relativistic collisions were produced at CERN, the field of heavy-ion physics is still a hot topic

News
Physics
06 April, 2017
Physics
News
06 April, 2017

Smallest LHC experiment has cosmic outing

The LHCf experiment begins its annual run to study cosmic rays

News
Experiments
17 November, 2016
Experiments
News
17 November, 2016

Lead ion and proton: Close encounters of the third kind

For the third time ever the LHC today began colliding beams of protons with lead ions to probe the early universe from which matter emerged

News
Physics
10 November, 2016

A new energy frontier for heavy ions

This week’s heavy-ion run at the LHC breaks a symbolic barrier, says CERN accelerator physicist John Jowett

Opinion
Physics
24 November, 2015
Physics
Opinion
24 November, 2015