Related papers: The SPS ion program and the first LHC data
The CERN NA57 experiment was designed to study the production of strange and multi-strange particles in heavy ion collisions at SPS energies; its physics programme is essentially completed. A review of the main results is presented.
The critical point of strongly interacting matter is searched for at the CERN SPS by the NA61/SHINE experiment in central $^{40}$Ar +$^{45}$Sc collisions at 13$A$, 19$A$, 30$A$, 40$A$, and 75$A$ GeV/$c$. The dependence of the second-order…
A new heavy-ion experiment on fixed target, NA60+, has been proposed at the CERN SPS for data taking in the next years. Its main goals will be focused on precision studies of thermal dimuons, heavy quark and strangeness production in Pb-Pb…
The NA61/SHINE experiment aims to discover the critical point of strongly interacting matter and study the properties of the onset of deconfinement. For these goals a scan of the two dimensional phase diagram ($T-\mu_{B}$) is being…
The NA49 experiment at the CERN SPS measured the energy and system size dependence of particle production in A+A collisions. A change of the energy dependence of several hadron production properties at low SPS energies is observed which…
The ALICE detector recorded Pb-Pb collisions at sqrtsNN = 2.76 TeV at the LHC in November-December 2010. We present the results of the measurements that provide a first characterization of the hot and dense state of strongly-interacting…
The exploration of the QCD phase diagram is the most important task of present heavy ion experiments. In particular, we want to study the phase transition from hadronic to partonic matter and look for the critical point (CP) of strongly…
Preliminary results on particle spectra and fluctuations in inelastic p+p interactions measured by NA61/SHINE at the CERN SPS are presented and its future ion program is discussed. We also show results on the excitation functions of…
Concepts of wounded nucleon and quark participants have been used for years to parametrize and/or to explain many features of high energy nuclear collisions. Some results illustrating successes and failures of these two approaches are…
NA61/SHINE is a fixed-target experiment to study hadron production in hadron-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions at the CERN SPS. Due to the very good acceptance and particle identification in forward direction, NA61/SHINE is well suited…
New data from the NA49 experiment at the CERN SPS concerning hadron+proton and hadron+nucleus interactions are discussed and compared to nucleus+nucleus collisions. Detailed information on baryonic momentum distributions and nuclear…
The strong interactions programme of the NA61/SHINE experiment at CERN SPS has been extended through the use of new silicon Vertex Detector which provides precise measurements of exotic particles with short lifetime. The detector was…
The ALICE experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN is optimized to study the properties of the hot, dense matter created in high energy nuclear collisions in order to improve our understanding of the properties of nuclear matter…
ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is a detector designed to exploit the physics potential of nucleus-nucleus interactions at the LHC. Being a general purpose experiment, it will allow a comprehensive study of hadrons, electrons, muons…
Soon after the LHC is commissioned with proton beams the ATLAS experiment will begin studies of Pb-Pb collisions with a center of mass energy of ?sNN = 5.5 TeV. The ATLAS program is a natural extension of measurements at RHIC in a direction…
The first heavy-ion run at the LHC with Pb+Pb collisions at roots_NN = 2.76 TeV took place in the fall of 2010. In a short and relatively low luminosity run, the three detectors, ALICE, ATLAS and CMS showcased an impressive performance and…
Theoretical calculations locate the critical point of strongly interacting matter (CP) at energies accessible at the CERN SPS. Event-by-event transverse momentum and multiplicity fluctuations are considered as one of the most important…
Measurements of hadron production in p+C interactions at 31 GeV/c are performed using the NA61/ SHINE spectrometer at the CERN SPS. The analysis is based on the full set of data collected in 2009 using a graphite target with a thickness of…
A timely and long-term programme of kaon decay measurements at a new level of precision is presented, leveraging the capabilities of the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS). The proposed programme is firmly anchored on the experience built…
As neutrino long baseline experiments enter a new domain of precision, the careful study of systematic errors due to poor knowledge of production cross sections for pions and kaons require more dedicated measurements for precise neutrino…