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Welcome to ALICE, a journey to the beginning of the Universe


ALICE is the acronym for A Large Ion Collider Experiment, one of the largest experiments in the world devoted to research in the physics of matter at an infinitely small scale. Hosted at CERN, the European Laboratory for Nuclear Research, this project involves an international collaboration of more than 1000 physicists, engineers and technicians, including around 200 graduate students, from 105 physics institutes in 30 countries across the world. The ALICE Experiment is going in search of answers to fundamental questions, using the extraordinary tools provided by the LHC:

  • What happens to matter when it is heated to 100,000 times the temperature at the centre of the Sun ?
  • Why do protons and neutrons weigh 100 times more than the quarks they are made of ?
  • Can the quarks inside the protons and neutrons be freed ?

This website aims both at introducing non-initiates to the field of physics covered by ALICE and at providing regular information on the evolution of the experiment, with detailed reports of its results and analysis. It also offers an insight into the scientific community gathered around this project and highlights its contributions to the advancement of our understanding of the universe. So, no matter what your involvement with physics, you are invited to tumble down the rabbit hole into the wonderland of ALICE. The Alice Cavern, 2008

Photo of the Alice Detector in early 2008.

Aerial view of the ALICE site in Saint-Genis-Pouilly, (France, Ain), 2kms from CERN and the Swiss border.

Aerial view of the ALICE site in the territory of Sergy, (France, Ain), 2 km from CERN and the Swiss border (access from St-Genis-Pouilly, Point 2 LHC).