Photos: A behind-the-scenes look at CERN's ALICE - TechRepublic

Photos: A behind-the-scenes look at CERN’s ALICE

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    ALICE

    Recently, after a more than two-year hiatus, CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) began delivering data again. Let’s take a look at one of its most important experiments, ALICE.

    ALICE stands for A Large Ion Collider Experiment.

  • Integration of the inner tracker

    ALICE works on detecting quark-gluon plasma, which is thought to be a result of the Big Bang.

    Image: CERN
  • Scientists work on the inner tracker

    Image: CERN
  • Members of the team that collaborated on ALICE

    The ALICE collaboration was formed and its letter of intent was written in 1993.

    Image: CERN
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    ALICE Cavern

    This area is known as the ALICE cavern. DCal modules were installed to extend the measurement capabilities of ALICE.

    Image: CERN
  • Another look at the Inner Tracking System

    The Inner Tracking System consists of three layers of detectors: ITS Pixels, ITS Drift, and ITS Strips. The system tracks the movement of specific particles.

    Image: CERN
  • The field cage

    Here is an interior look at the field cage of ALICE.

    Image: CERN
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    The photon spectrometer

    Here scientists insert crystals into the photo spectrometer, which measures photons emerging from the particle collision.

    Image: CERN
  • The time projection chamber

    The Time Projection Chamber (TPC) in ALICE is filled with gas to detect and track particles.

    Image: CERN
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    A technician works on gas pipes

    Image: CERN
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Conner Forrest

Conner is a former Senior Editor for TechRepublic. He is now a Senior Research Analyst at 451 Research.