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CERN researchers win Breakthrough Prize for groundbreaking discoveries!
The ALICE collaboration at the University of Frankfurt receives the Breakthrough Prize 2023 for research at CERN on fundamental physics.
CERN researchers win Breakthrough Prize for groundbreaking discoveries!
On April 14, 2025, the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics 2023 was awarded to the four major collaborations at CERN. This prestigious award, worth a total of $3 million, goes to the ALICE, ATLAS, CMS and LHCb projects. The prize is awarded for significant advances in fundamental research in physics, mathematics and life sciences, and the integrity of the prize is an indicator of the significant importance of particle physics in modern science.
The participation of scientists from Goethe University in the ALICE project is particularly noteworthy. Scientists such as Prof. Harald Appelshäuser, Prof. Volker Lindenstruth and Prof. Ivan Kisel are taking on crucial roles in research investigating the quark-gluon plasma - an extremely hot and dense state of matter that existed in the first microseconds after the Big Bang. Prof. Appelshäuser's team also made significant progress as they renewed the central trace drift chamber of the ALICE detector.
Research and successes of the ALICE collaboration
ALICE studies the conditions that existed in the early universe by simulating heavy ion collisions. Prof. Lindenstruth and his team have developed the Event Processing Node (EPN) cluster for real-time data processing. Previously, Prof. Kisel had developed algorithms for real-time track reconstruction, which are necessary for analyzing this complex data. Submission of important data will be donated to the CERN & Society Foundation to support graduate students.
The four collaborations were recognized for their comprehensive studies testing various aspects of the Standard Model of particle physics. Among the impressive achievements are the precise measurements of the properties of the Higgs boson and the discovery of over 72 new hadrons. These findings represent a remarkable expansion of the boundaries of modern physics.
The influence of the quark-gluon plasma
The ALICE collaboration plays a key role in the study of quark-gluon plasma. The physical conditions that prevail in this state of matter influence, among other things, the bound states of charm quarks and their antimatter counterparts. ALICE recently published the first measurements of ψ(2S) production, showing that this state is suppressed about twice as much as the J/ψ state. This is an important result that was first observed during lead core collisions in 2015 and 2018.
A mechanism called recombination could contribute to the formation of new Charmonia and partially offset the suppression. The results of the measurements indicate that a better understanding of the modifications in hidden charm particles and the strong interaction can be achieved in the future, especially through the upcoming studies in LHC Run 3.
The Breakthrough Awards ceremony took place on April 5 in Los Angeles and was initiated by celebrities such as Sergey Brin, Priscilla Chan, Mark Zuckerberg, Julia and Yuri Milner and Anne Wojcicki. It is a significant event that recognizes the outstanding contribution of scientists at CERN to expanding our knowledge of the universe, and it aims to provide a solid foundation for the young researchers of tomorrow.
In summary, the excellent achievements of CERN collaborations, especially ALICE, not only reinforce the foundations of our current physical theories, but also expand research into undiscovered areas of particle physics.