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3w ago

LHC Begins Proton–Oxygen Collision Phase with Precision Beam Tuning

Crystal collimators have entered testing; the LHCf detector records proton–oxygen collision data to ready the accelerator for upcoming oxygen–oxygen and neon–neon experiments.

Inside the LHC tunnel at CERN, where particles are accelerated for high-energy collision experiments.
"Uncharted Waters": Large Hadron Collider Begins Colliding Oxygen For The First Time

Overview

  • Proton–oxygen collisions are under way since June 29, with engineers finely adjusting beam frequency and momentum to align impacts at the center of ALICE, ATLAS, CMS and LHCb.
  • The LHCf experiment’s detector, positioned 140 meters from the ATLAS collision point, is operational and capturing small-angle particles from ongoing proton–oxygen runs.
  • Tests of crystal collimators are being conducted to upgrade the beam management system and reduce ion beam halos before the next oxygen–oxygen phase.
  • Oxygen–oxygen and neon–neon collision phases are planned for later this week, with commissioning periods scheduled between each ion run to reconfigure accelerator settings.
  • Data from the multi-ion campaign will probe cosmic rays, the strong nuclear force and the emergence of quark–gluon plasma across different system sizes.