CERN Accelerating science

December 2021 - February 2022

Prestigious Award for Quantum Logic Spectroscopy

In October, the prestigious Dissertation Prize of the Section Atoms, Molecules, Quantum Optics and Plasmas (SAMOP) of the German Physical Society was awarded to Peter Micke for his seminal work demonstrating quantum logic spectroscopy on highly…

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Gearing up preparations for the T2K-II phase

The upgrade of the near detector of the T2K experiment became in April 2019 an official CERN Neutrino Platform experiment (NP07). As a consequence an increased detector assembly activity has been started at CERN over the last months. This will…

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A High-Granularity Timing Detector for the ATLAS Phase-II Upgrade

A High-Granularity Timing Detector (HGTD) using Low Gain Avalanche Diodes (LGAD) silicon sensors is being constructed for the ATLAS phase-II upgrade program as a powerful way to address the challenges of the High-Luminosity LHC program [1]. The goal…

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Transforming NA62

The main goal of the NA62 experiment, located in CERNs North Area, is to precisely measure the K+→π+νν̅  branching fraction, which is highly sensitive to new physics processes. The analysis of data collected during 2016-2018 led to the most precise…

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A new VELO for the LHCb experiment

The VELO is stacking up milestones as it races to complete installation before the Run 3 startup. The previous VErtex LOcator (VELO) is being completely replaced during Long Shutdown 2 as part of a major upgrade programme to allow the experiment to…

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Demonstrating the capabilities of a new GEM

During the LHC Long Shutdown 2 (2019-2021), many subsystems of the CMS experiment are being upgraded including its muon system. This is located on the outer part of the experiment and consists of various types of gaseous chambers. The muon system…

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A busy time at the ALICE Control Room as preparations gear up for 2022

After three years of challenging and intense upgrade activities and installation campaigns of LHC Long Shutdown 2 [1], ALICE started global commissioning in July to embark on a new data-taking period. Upgraded detectors and their new readouts were…

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Proton beams recorded at CMS pave the way for next LHC run

The Long Shutdown 2 (LS2) is almost over and CERN, along with the experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), is preparing to welcome the Run 3 next year. As part of the preparation for Run 3, during the last two weeks of October, LHC circulated…

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The LHC pilot beam at LHCb in preparation for Run 3 start

During the second long shutdown of the LHC, the LHCb experiment is undergoing a full metamorphosis to be able to collect an unprecedented data sample starting from next year [1]. This upgrade of LHCb has been designed to be able to operate at five…

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