The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has launched a new experiment focused on collisions of heavy ions rather than the usual protons. The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) shared the details of this groundbreaking study, which started at 11:13 a.m. on November 6 and will last for about three weeks. This experiment aims to generate vast amounts of data for physicists to analyze, hoping to reveal insights into the Universe’s earliest moments. Unlike typical experiments with protons, this time scientists are observing collisions of lead ions, which contain 208 nucleons (82 protons and 126 neutrons). These ions are accelerated to energies of 5.36 TeV per nucleon pair, creating conditions similar to those just after the Big Bang. The preparation for this experiment involved significant upgrades to the equipment. For instance, the CMS detector’s data collection rate was increased from 20 to 30 gigabytes per second, and the ATLAS detector was made more sensitive to detect ultra-peripheral collisions—when heavy ions pass close without colliding head-on. The ALICE detector, specifically designed for heavy-ion measurements, was also enhanced to gather double the data it could in previous experiments. According to ALICE spokesman Marco van Leeuwen, scientists are “looking forward to the large data sample from this experiment,” as it should allow for the first direct measurement of the temperature of the quark-gluon plasma and enable precise study of its properties. Quark-gluon plasma is a unique, high-energy state of matter that existed in the very early Universe, just a fraction of a second after the Big Bang. In this state, protons and neutrons break down into a “primordial soup” of their fundamental components—quarks and gluons. By recreating this plasma through heavy-ion collisions, scientists hope to understand the behavior of matter under extreme conditions similar to those that shaped the early Universe. The post New Large Hadron Collider Experiment to Reveal the Universe’s Birth appeared first on Anomalien.com.