EMMI Workshop: Light-ion collisions 2026

The femtoscopic technique offers a unique tool to investigate the spatial
structure of the particle-emitting source through the measurement of
momentum correlations between emitted hadrons. This contribution presents
the latest measurements of proton–proton femtoscopic correlations obtained
with the ALICE experiment in OO and Ne-Ne collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 5.36$ TeV, based on...

A vital topic of today’s high-energy nuclear physics is the investigation of the nuclear structure of the collided nuclei. Recent studies at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) have shown that several observables, such as the collective flow and transverse-momentum correlations of the produced particles, can be sensitive to various nuclear structure...

The correlation between the mean transverse momentum and elliptic flow has emerged as a powerful observable for probing nuclear and sub-nuclear structure. In this talk, we present the study of higher-order cumulants involving the mean transverse momentum and elliptic flow. We provide hydrodynamic predictions for these cumulants in both heavy-ion and light-ion collisions and discuss how they...

Oxygen-oxygen collisions offer a clean testing ground for the onset of collectivity in intermediate-size systems lying between pp and heavy-ion collisions. We study radial flow fluctuations in O+O collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 5.36$ TeV using the transverse-momentum-differential observable $v_{0}(p_{\rm T})$, recently measured in Pb+Pb collisions at the LHC. Events are generated with AMPT...

Collective behavior, traditionally associated with heavy-ion collisions, has been observed in small collision systems at the LHC. The recent OO and Ne--Ne collisions allow bridging of the gap between small and large collision systems and enable the study of collectivity in well-constrained initial states. Measurements of azimuthal anisotropies are sensitive to the initial-state geometry and...

Measurements of soft-particle production and collective flow in light-ion collisions provide powerful probes of both the initial-state geometry and the subsequent dynamical evolution of the system. This talk presents new ATLAS results from proton--oxygen (p+O), oxygen--oxygen (O+O), and neon--neon (Ne+Ne) collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 5.36​​$ TeV collected at the LHC. Collective behavior is...

Light-ion collisions provide a unique opportunity to study the onset of QGP collectivity and probe nuclear structure at high energy. In this talk, I will present recent STAR measurements in d+Au and $^{16}$O+$^{16}$O collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$=200 GeV, where controlled variations of the initial geometry help disentangle nucleon configurations, subnucleonic fluctuations, and final-state...

Light ion collisions at the LHC provide a unique opportunity to test the emergence of QGP-like collectivity in systems that are small in transverse size but highly sensitive to nuclear structure. Recent O+O and Ne+Ne measurements have established sizable anisotropic flow and a characteristic enhancement of elliptic flow in central Ne+Ne collisions, suggesting a hydrodynamic response to the...