CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) particle detectors are some of the most complex and sophisticated machines created by human beings. Probably the best-known experiments of this particle physics laboratory are CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid) and ATLAS (A Toroidal LHC Apparatus), and it is understandable that this is the case because they have a primary role in the research carried out by CERN physicists.
However, there is another detector in these facilities that also deserves our full attention. You can see it in the cover image of this article. Her name is ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment), and it’s also colossal. Each of these machines has complementary goals and approaches, but all of them, as well as the other detectors operated by CERN, have something very important in common: they are extraordinarily valuable tools in unraveling the mysteries of fundamental physics, and , therefore, of the universe.
ALICE is a great ally of the LHC
As we have told you in the title of this article, the ALICE particle detector It took 20 years to build.. Hundreds of physicists and engineers participated in its development, and such an effort, and there is no doubt about this, has been worth it. After all, the purpose of this machine is crucial in the field of particle physics. ALICE has been designed to study the collisions of heavy ions that occur at the Large Hadron Collider or LHC (Large Hadron Collider).
The ALICE experiment has been designed to study the collisions of heavy ions that occur at the Large Hadron Collider or LHC.
However, we can specify a little more what this ambitious machine is for. Its primary purpose is to analyze quark-gluon plasma, which is an exotic state of matter that physicists believe arose just moments after the Big Bang. The knowledge derived from the study of this state of matter is allowing researchers to better understand the mechanisms that govern strong nuclear interaction in conditions presumably very similar to those that occurred during the first stages of formation of the universe.
A small aside before moving forward. The strong nuclear interaction is one of the four fundamental forces of nature and is responsible for keeping the atomic nucleus together. This force is responsible for keeping the quarks together to give rise to the formation of protons and neutrons, and it also ensures that these last two particles stay together in the atomic nucleus. Its range is very limited, but, yes, it is the most intense force of the four. More than the weak nuclear interaction and electromagnetism. And, of course, much more than gravity.
ALICE began operating in 2010, first with proton collisions, and then with lead ion collisions. Since then, almost fifteen years have passed and this detector, along with other CERN experiments, has given us extremely valuable information about the state in which matter was found. during the first moments of the cosmos. However, in all likelihood the best of all is yet to come.
ALICE, CMS, ATLAS, LHCb, TOTEM and the other detectors linked to the LHC will give us much more joy in the future. After all, the physicists at CERN are determined to tear down the solid walls of the Standard Model so that we can plunge into the long-awaited new physics.
Image | CERN
rmation | CERN
In Xataka | We only know 5% of the universe and CERN has a plan to explain the remaining 95%. If you do it, you will change the world.
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