Transmutation of $^{16}$O and $^{20}$Ne at the Large Hadron Collider
Published: Jul 2, 2025
Last Updated: Jul 2, 2025
Authors:Govert Nijs, Wilke van der Schee
Abstract
In July 2025 the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will collide $^{16}$O$^{16}$O and $^{20}$Ne$^{20}$Ne isotopes in a quest to understand the physics of ultrarelativistic light ion collisions. One particular feature is that there are many smaller isotopes with the exact same charge over mass ratio that potentially can be produced and contaminate the beam composition. Using the Trajectum framework together with the GEMINI code we provide an estimate of the production cross-section and its consequences. A potential benefit could be the interesting measurement of the multiplicity and mean transverse momentum of $^{16}$O$^{4}$He collisions.