00:00CERN has made history by colliding protons with oxygen ions for the first time,
00:06unlocking new ways to explore cosmic rays, the early universe, and fundamental forces.
00:14From June 29 to July 9, the Large Hadron Collider entered a special mode,
00:20two days of proton-oxygen collisions, followed by two days of oxygen-oxygen, and one of neon-neon.
00:28While LHC typically smashes protons or lead ions, these new interactions mimic cosmic ray collisions in Earth's atmosphere
00:38and help scientists study the strong force and quark-gluon plasma, conditions just after the Big Bang.
00:47Key goals include understanding how cosmic rays interact with atoms,
00:52examining high-speed oxygen nuclei collisions, and identifying exotic particles and rare physics events.
01:02Getting here required years of work.
01:05Accelerating oxygen and neon ions involves complex staging.
01:10Creation in LINAC-3, passing through Lear, the proton-synchrotron, and super-proton-synchrotron before entering the LHC.
01:21With each step custom-tuned since 2019.
01:25Because protons and oxygen ions have different charge-to-mass ratios,
01:30scientists had to adjust revolution frequency and beam momentum with nanometer-level precision to ensure successful collisions.
01:38Experiments took place at CERN's four major detectors, ALICE, Heavy Ion Collisions, ATLAS, and CMS, General Purpose Physics.
01:54LHCB, Matter-Antimatter Asymmetry.
01:57Nearby, LHCF deployed a special detector to study small-angle particles,
02:06simulating cosmic ray interactions in our atmosphere and improving radiation detection techniques.
02:13Because of a technical hurdle caused by beam halos, the stray particles that escape the main beam path,
02:21With ion beams, standard collimators struggle.
02:25So CERN is testing crystal collimation,
02:28a method using atomic structures to steer particles like light through a crystal.
02:34This isn't just one experiment.
02:36It's a leap toward understanding how the universe began and the extreme behavior of matter.
02:43These five days could spark decades of groundbreaking discoveries.
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