Heavy-Ion and Fixed-Target Physics at LHCb

TL;DR

LHCb's diverse physics program includes heavy-ion and fixed-target experiments, with recent analyses advancing understanding of particle interactions in these regimes at the LHC.

Contribution

This paper reports on five recent analyses from LHCb's Ions and Fixed-Target group, highlighting new results in heavy-ion and fixed-target physics at the LHC.

Findings

New measurements of particle production in fixed-target mode

Insights into heavy-ion collision dynamics

Advancements in forward-region particle detection

Abstract

The LHCb experiment, designed for searches of new physics in beauty and charm hadron decays, has been recording data at the Large Hadron Collider since 2010. The physics program incorporates $p$$p$, $p$A, and AA collisions, ultra-peripheral interactions, and a unique fixed-target program. LHCb is a general purpose experiment covering the forward region, measuring particles from $p_T > 0$ at forward pseudorapidity $2<\eta<5$. Currently the LHCb collaboration consists of eight working groups, including the Ions and Fixed-Target (IFT) working group. Since the Moriond QCD conference in March 2023, the IFT working group has submitted eleven physics analyses for journal publication, and here we report on five of these.