ALICE3 Preview

12 DECEMBER, 2023 | By Kevin Buffet and Arturo Tauro

ALICE3 — The LS3 ALICE configuration. Only the L3 magnet (red) will remain after LS4.

EA has been contributing to the ALICE experiment by building CAD models of all equipment in their cavern (UX25). We first inherited a CAD model of the LS1 configuration in 2017, then created the current LS2 configuration, and have already prepared the LS3 configuration (items to be installed in 2026 and planned to produce data until 2032. For each new configuration a brand-new CAD model is created, and this is therefore quite a rare event.

Today, we take this opportunity to show a sneak preview of the planning that has already started for the LS4 configuration, and so a fourth iteration of the CAD model has been born, called ‘ALICE 3’.

The proposed changes of ALICE 3 are the most ambitious yet, and will require nearly all of the existing infrastructure to be removed from the cavern, a huge undertaking. The only item to remain will be the iconic red L3 magnet. Inside this will be a new compact superconducting magnet with a 2T field.

A proposed timeline for the de-installation and re-installation gives an idea of scale of the work, planned to fit into the ‘short’ 26 months LS4 shutdown:

7 months for removal
18 months for re-building

The implication for the EA group is a likely increase in the integration studies needed to plan for the movements of all of this equipment. For further reading on ALICE 3 have a look at this CERN Courier article.

A note on the confusing namings of the ALICE configurations:

ALICE 1: Original construction, used during Run1, LS1 and Run2
ALICE 2: Upgrade during LS2 and used during Run 3 (now).
ALICE 2.1: Minor upgrade for LS3 and to be used for Run 4.
ALICE 3: Major upgrade for LS4 to be used in Run 5 and Run6 (2035 – 2041).