The ALICE experiment: a journey through QCD

ALICE Collaboration alice-publications@cern.ch

doi:10.1140/epjc/s10052-024-12935-y

The ALICE experiment: a journey through QCD

ALICE Collaboration [email protected]

Relativistic Nuclear Physics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

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Abstract

The ALICE experiment was proposed in 1993, to study strongly-interacting matter at extreme energy densities and temperatures. This proposal entailed a comprehensive investigation of nuclear collisions at the LHC. Its physics programme initially focused on the determination of the properties of the quark–gluon plasma (QGP), a deconfined state of quarks and gluons, created in such collisions. The ALICE physics programme has been extended to cover a broader ensemble of observables related to Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), the theory of strong interactions. The experiment has studied Pb–Pb, Xe–Xe, p–Pb and pp collisions in the multi-TeV centre of mass energy range, during the Run 1–2 data-taking periods at the LHC (2009–2018). The aim of this review is to summarise the key ALICE physics results in this endeavor, and to discuss their implications on the current understanding of the macroscopic and microscopic properties of strongly-interacting matter at the highest temperatures reached in the laboratory. It will review the latest findings on the properties of the QGP created by heavy-ion collisions at LHC energies, and describe the surprising QGP-like effects in pp and p–Pb collisions. Measurements of few-body QCD interactions, and their impact in unraveling the structure of hadrons and hadronic interactions, will be discussed. ALICE results relevant for physics topics outside the realm of QCD will also be touched upon. Finally, prospects for future measurements with the ALICE detector in the context of its planned upgrades will also be briefly described.

Original language	English
Article number	813
Journal	European Physical Journal C
Volume	84
Issue number	8
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-024-12935-y
State	Published - Aug 2024

Funding

The ALICE Collaboration would like to thank all its engineers and technicians for their invaluable contributions to the construction of the experiment and the CERN accelerator teams for the outstanding performance of the LHC complex. The ALICE Collaboration gratefully acknowledges the resources and support provided by all Grid centres and the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid (WLCG) collaboration. The ALICE Collaboration acknowledges the following funding agencies for their support in building and running the ALICE detector: A. I. Alikhanyan National Science Laboratory (Yerevan Physics Institute) Foundation (ANSL), State Committee of Science and World Federation of Scientists (WFS), Armenia; Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austrian Science Fund (FWF): [M 2467-N36] and Nationalstiftung f\u00FCr Forschung, Technologie und Entwicklung, Austria; Ministry of Communications and High Technologies, National Nuclear Research Center, Azerbaijan; Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient\u00EDfico e Tecnol\u00F3gico (CNPq), Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos (Finep), Funda\u00E7\u00E3o de Amparo \u00E0 Pesquisa do Estado de S\u00E3o Paulo (FAPESP) and Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Brazil; Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science, within the National Roadmap for Research Infrastructures 2020-2027 (object CERN), Bulgaria; Ministry of Education of China (MOEC) , Ministry of Science & Technology of China (MSTC) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), China; Ministry of Science and Education and Croatian Science Foundation, Croatia; Centro de Aplicaciones Tecnol\u00F3gicas y Desarrollo Nuclear (CEADEN), Cubaenerg\u00EDa, Cuba; Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic, Czech Republic; The Danish Council for Independent Research | Natural Sciences, the VILLUM FONDEN and Danish National Research Foundation (DNRF), Denmark; Helsinki Institute of Physics (HIP), Finland; Commissariat \u00E0 l\u2019Energie Atomique (CEA) and Institut National de Physique Nucl\u00E9aire et de Physique des Particules (IN2P3) and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), France; Bundesministerium f\u00FCr Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) and GSI Helmholtzzentrum f\u00FCr Schwerionenforschung GmbH, Germany; General Secretariat for Research and Technology, Ministry of Education, Research and Religions, Greece; National Research, Development and Innovation Office, Hungary; Department of Atomic Energy Government of India (DAE), Department of Science and Technology, Government of India (DST), University Grants Commission, Government of India (UGC) and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India; National Research and Innovation Agency - BRIN, Indonesia; Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Italy; Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) KAKENHI, Japan; Consejo Nacional de Ciencia (CONACYT) y Tecnolog\u00EDa, through Fondo de Cooperaci\u00F3n Internacional en Ciencia y Tecnolog\u00EDa (FONCICYT) and Direcci\u00F3n General de Asuntos del Personal Academico (DGAPA), Mexico; Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO), Netherlands; The Research Council of Norway, Norway; Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (COMSATS), Pakistan; Pontificia Universidad Cat\u00F3lica del Per\u00FA, Peru; Ministry of Education and Science, National Science Centre and WUT ID-UB, Poland; Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information and National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), Republic of Korea; Ministry of Education and Scientific Research, Institute of Atomic Physics, Ministry of Research and Innovation and Institute of Atomic Physics and Universitatea Nationala de Stiinta si Tehnologie Politehnica Bucuresti, Romania; Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic, Slovakia; National Research Foundation of South Africa, South Africa; Swedish Research Council (VR) and Knut & Alice Wallenberg Foundation (KAW), Sweden; European Organization for Nuclear Research, Switzerland; Suranaree University of Technology (SUT), National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) and National Science, Research and Innovation Fund (NSRF via PMU-B B05F650021), Thailand; Turkish Energy, Nuclear and Mineral Research Agency (TENMAK), Turkey; National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Ukraine; Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), United Kingdom; National Science Foundation of the United States of America (NSF) and United States Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Physics (DOE NP), United States of America. In addition, individual groups or members have received support from: Marie Sk\u0142odowska Curie, European Research Council, Strong 2020 - Horizon 2020 (grant nos. 950692, 824093, 896850), European Union; Academy of Finland (Center of Excellence in Quark Matter) (grant nos. 346327, 346328), Finland; Programa de Apoyos para la Superaci\u00F3n del Personal Acad\u00E9mico, UNAM, Mexico.

Funders	Funder number
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India
State Committee of Science and World Federation
Ministry of Communications and High Technologies
Ministry of Education and Science
Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India
National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
National Science and Technology Development Agency
National Research Foundation of Korea
Villum Fonden
National Science, Research and Innovation Fund
Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Narodowe Centrum Nauki
University Grants Commission
Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules
Science and Technology Facilities Council
Institute of Atomic Physics and Universitatea Nationala de Stiinta si Tehnologie Politehnica Bucuresti
General Secretariat for Research and Technology, Ministry of Education, Research and Religions
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information
Knut och Alice Wallenbergs Stiftelse
Ministry of Science and Education and Croatian Science Foundation
Instituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare
Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos
Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation
Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, India
Consejo Nacional de Humanidades, Ciencias y Tecnologías
Norges Forskningsråd
Yerevan Physics Institute
Natur og Univers, Det Frie Forskningsråd
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Dirección General de Asuntos del Personal Académico, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung
Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives
Danmarks Grundforskningsfond
Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico
Suranaree University of Technology
Centro de Aplicaciones Tecnológicas y Desarrollo Nuclear
Türkiye Enerji, Nükleer ve Maden Araştırma Kurumu
Nemzeti Kutatási Fejlesztési és Innovációs Hivatal
Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research
European Commission
GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung
U.S. Department of Energy
Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
National Nuclear Research Center
WUT ID-UB
Institutul de Fizică Atomică
Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China
Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic, Czech Republic
Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport
Helsinki Institute of Physics
Fondo de Cooperación Internacional en Ciencia y Tecnología
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
University Grants Commission, Government of India
European Research Council
National Research Foundation
Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional
CERN
Nuclear Physics
Vetenskapsrådet
Österreichische Nationalstiftung für Forschung, Technologie und Entwicklung
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
National Natural Science Foundation of China
NSRF	B05F650021
Horizon 2020	896850, 824093, 950692
Research Council of Finland	346328, 346327
Austrian Science Fund	M 2467-N36

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10.1140/epjc/s10052-024-12935-y

Cite this

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title = "The ALICE experiment: a journey through QCD",

abstract = "The ALICE experiment was proposed in 1993, to study strongly-interacting matter at extreme energy densities and temperatures. This proposal entailed a comprehensive investigation of nuclear collisions at the LHC. Its physics programme initially focused on the determination of the properties of the quark–gluon plasma (QGP), a deconfined state of quarks and gluons, created in such collisions. The ALICE physics programme has been extended to cover a broader ensemble of observables related to Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), the theory of strong interactions. The experiment has studied Pb–Pb, Xe–Xe, p–Pb and pp collisions in the multi-TeV centre of mass energy range, during the Run 1–2 data-taking periods at the LHC (2009–2018). The aim of this review is to summarise the key ALICE physics results in this endeavor, and to discuss their implications on the current understanding of the macroscopic and microscopic properties of strongly-interacting matter at the highest temperatures reached in the laboratory. It will review the latest findings on the properties of the QGP created by heavy-ion collisions at LHC energies, and describe the surprising QGP-like effects in pp and p–Pb collisions. Measurements of few-body QCD interactions, and their impact in unraveling the structure of hadrons and hadronic interactions, will be discussed. ALICE results relevant for physics topics outside the realm of QCD will also be touched upon. Finally, prospects for future measurements with the ALICE detector in the context of its planned upgrades will also be briefly described.",

author = "{ALICE Collaboration [email protected]} and S. Acharya and D. Adamov{\'a} and A. Adler and {Aglieri Rinella}, G. and M. Agnello and N. Agrawal and Z. Ahammed and S. Ahmad and Ahn, {S. U.} and I. Ahuja and A. Akindinov and M. Al-Turany and D. Aleksandrov and B. Alessandro and Alfanda, {H. M.} and {Alfaro Molina}, R. and B. Ali and A. Alici and N. Alizadehvandchali and A. Alkin and J. Alme and G. Alocco and T. Alt and I. Altsybeev and Alvarado, {J. R.} and Anaam, {M. N.} and C. Andrei and A. Andronic and V. Anguelov and F. Antinori and P. Antonioli and N. Apadula and L. Aphecetche and H. Appelsh{\"a}user and C. Arata and S. Arcelli and M. Aresti and R. Arnaldi and Arsene, {I. C.} and M. Arslandok and A. Augustinus and R. Averbeck and Azmi, {M. D.} and A. Badal{\`a} and J. Bae and Baek, {Y. W.} and F. Bock and Read, {K. F.} and J. Schambach and Schmidt, {N. V.}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2024.",

year = "2024",

month = aug,

doi = "10.1140/epjc/s10052-024-12935-y",

language = "English",

volume = "84",

journal = "European Physical Journal C",

issn = "1434-6044",

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T1 - The ALICE experiment

T2 - a journey through QCD

AU - ALICE Collaboration [email protected]

AU - Acharya, S.

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AU - Aglieri Rinella, G.

AU - Agnello, M.

AU - Agrawal, N.

AU - Ahammed, Z.

AU - Ahmad, S.

AU - Ahn, S. U.

AU - Ahuja, I.

AU - Akindinov, A.

AU - Al-Turany, M.

AU - Aleksandrov, D.

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AU - Alici, A.

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AU - Alkin, A.

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AU - Alt, T.

AU - Altsybeev, I.

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AU - Andronic, A.

AU - Anguelov, V.

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AU - Antonioli, P.

AU - Apadula, N.

AU - Aphecetche, L.

AU - Appelshäuser, H.

AU - Arata, C.

AU - Arcelli, S.

AU - Aresti, M.

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AU - Arsene, I. C.

AU - Arslandok, M.

AU - Augustinus, A.

AU - Averbeck, R.

AU - Azmi, M. D.

AU - Badalà, A.

AU - Bae, J.

AU - Baek, Y. W.

AU - Bock, F.

AU - Read, K. F.

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AU - Schmidt, N. V.

PY - 2024/8

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AB - The ALICE experiment was proposed in 1993, to study strongly-interacting matter at extreme energy densities and temperatures. This proposal entailed a comprehensive investigation of nuclear collisions at the LHC. Its physics programme initially focused on the determination of the properties of the quark–gluon plasma (QGP), a deconfined state of quarks and gluons, created in such collisions. The ALICE physics programme has been extended to cover a broader ensemble of observables related to Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), the theory of strong interactions. The experiment has studied Pb–Pb, Xe–Xe, p–Pb and pp collisions in the multi-TeV centre of mass energy range, during the Run 1–2 data-taking periods at the LHC (2009–2018). The aim of this review is to summarise the key ALICE physics results in this endeavor, and to discuss their implications on the current understanding of the macroscopic and microscopic properties of strongly-interacting matter at the highest temperatures reached in the laboratory. It will review the latest findings on the properties of the QGP created by heavy-ion collisions at LHC energies, and describe the surprising QGP-like effects in pp and p–Pb collisions. Measurements of few-body QCD interactions, and their impact in unraveling the structure of hadrons and hadronic interactions, will be discussed. ALICE results relevant for physics topics outside the realm of QCD will also be touched upon. Finally, prospects for future measurements with the ALICE detector in the context of its planned upgrades will also be briefly described.

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DO - 10.1140/epjc/s10052-024-12935-y

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SN - 1434-6044

VL - 84

JO - European Physical Journal C

JF - European Physical Journal C

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The ALICE experiment: a journey through QCD

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