ALICE Upgrade

Lead Research Organisation: University of Liverpool
Department Name: Physics

Abstract

Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.

Planned Impact

The main beneficiaries of this upgrade will be experimentalists and theorists working in the field of hot Quantum Chromodynamics. They will directly benefit from the new insights that will arise out of the research, made possible by this Upgrade. The results of the subsequent research will be disseminated in high impact journals, through conference talks and seminars so as to reach as wide an audience as possible. More broadly, both the technologies developed during the Upgrade and the resulting research will also be of relevance to researchers in other fields, including other areas of nuclear physics, particle physics, astrophysics and cosmology. Some of the hardware developments related to the Birmingham design of the original ALICE trigger subsystem have already had impact, having been adopted by another experiment at CERN. Future developments that are foreseen in this proposal will potentially have relevance to a new generation of experiments planning to run in continuous data taking mode. The ITS Upgrade project will develop MAPS technologies, an area where the UK is already considered to be a world leader. Such technologies will not only have applications for other particle detectors but are likely to have applications in the areas of medicine and security.
Another strand revolves around the public understanding of science. The research that is related to this proposal has the potential to capture the imagination and to inspire a new generation of scientists. The research programme which will arise from this Upgrade is involved in studying matter as it would have existed a fraction of a second after the Big Bang. This aspect is relevant to the evolution of the Early Universe and the possible existence of (strange) quark matter stars. Members of the ALICE-UK collaboration have given over 70 public lectures over the past five years and been involved in many other public outreach events to school children, teachers, and members of the general public.

Publications

10 25 50
 
Description The ALICE experiment at the CERN LHC has created the highest temperatures and densities every produced in an experiment and re-created the primordial soup which would have existed up to 10 millionths of a second after the Big Bang. There are far too many key findings to list here but we have discovered this super hot and dense primordial soup behaves like a perfect liquid - the most perfect liquid every produced.
Exploitation Route This is an ongoing experiment, which will continue to upgrade and take data until at least 2030.
Sectors Education

Other

 
Description Findings from the ALICE experiment at the CERN LHC have been widely publicised in the media (TV, radio, newspapers, and web sites) and on a regular basis since 2010. Findings have also been extensively used in outreach activities, inspiring young people to study physics.
First Year Of Impact 2010
Sector Education
Impact Types Cultural

 
Description ALICE Collaboration 
Organisation European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN)
Department ALICE Collaboration
Country Switzerland 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution Data analysis of LHC data from Run1 and Run2 (heavy-flavour physics working group). ITS upgrade project: Monte Carlo simulations, construction of modules and staves for the Outer Barrel. Supervision of UG and PhD student projects. Meetings of ALICE-UK research groups (Univ. of Birmingham, Univ. of Liverpool, STFC Daresbury). Presentations at conferences, meetings and workshops.
Collaborator Contribution Access to beam time, data, GRID and other CERN infrastructure and resources, ALICE collaboration international network etc.
Impact Publications. Training of UG and PhD students and research staff. Invitations to speak at meetings, workshops, conferences.
Start Year 2012
 
Description ALICE guide visits 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Visits for public to ALICE detector at CERN , ongoing program done at CERN
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description Conference talk at '10th International Conference on Hard and Electromagnetic Probes of High-Energy Nuclear Collisions' 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Conference talk showing new measurement of hadron+jet production (analysis of which I was the lead analyser).
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
URL https://indico.cern.ch/event/751767/
 
Description Conference talk at 'Initial Stages 2021' 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Conference talk summarising recent heavy flavour production measurements from ALICE in p-Pb collisions, in a parallel session (conference was held online)
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://indico.cern.ch/event/854124/
 
Description International Women Day 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Panel Q&A ans discussion around the screening of the film 'Picture a scientist' by Sharon Shattuck & Ian Cheney (https://www.pictureascientist.com/)
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
 
Description Interview on BBC Radio 4 "Inside Science" 
Form Of Engagement Activity A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Media (as a channel to the public)
Results and Impact Jaime Norman (PhD student) was interviewed by Adam Rutherford (BBC Radio 4 "Inside Science") about the Heavy-Ion run at the LHC and the ALICE experiment.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description Liverpool-CERN summer school for A level students 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Schools
Results and Impact Talk by Jaime Norman (PhD student) on the Standard Model.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2015
 
Description University of Liverpool Physics Society 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Undergraduate students
Results and Impact Jaime Norman (PhD student) gave a presentation to Physics undergraduates about his research on heavy-flavour measurements with the ALICE experiment.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016
 
Description Visit of ALICE experiment at CERN/LHC by a delegation of British MPs (Marielle Chartier, February 2018) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact Official VIP visit by a delegation of a dozen British MPs to CERN, including the LHC and the ALICE experiment. Promoted the excellence of fundamental research performed at CERN and the positive impact it has on our society inlcuding techological advances, training opportunites of skilled staff, etc.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018