Cosmic collisions at the LHCb experiment

Last week at the 52nd Rencontres de Moriond EWin La Thuile, Italy, the LHCb experiment presented the results of an unprecedented and unusual study. Instead of the usual proton-proton collisions, this time the LHCb detector registered collisions between protons and helium nuclei, which were injected near the interaction point of the experiment. This type of collision can usually only be seen far above the Earth's atmosphere, where cosmic-rayparticles – highly energetic particles from outsid