GSI-Kolloquium:"The ALICE experiment at the LHC, recent results and future prospects"

Nuclear collisions at the LHC have allowed experimenters to study strongly interacting matter in unprecedented conditions of temperature and density and with a much enhance range of probes. ALICE, the dedicated Heavy-Ion experiment, has proven to be an extraordinary instrument for the study of these collisions, unveiling new features of the quark-gluon plasma in these extreme conditions. Based on what has been learned from the first years of data taking, the LHC HI community has developed a coherent plan for the future of the field, including a major upgrade of ALICE and operation of all experiments at much higher luminosity of lead-lead collisions. In the presentation, an overview of what has been learned from the first two runs with lead ions and from the recent proton-lead run will be given, together with a glimpse at the long-term view of the prospects of experimentation with Heavy Ions at the LHC.