Study of the final state particle composition in Pb-Pb collisions at √sNN = 5.02 TeV as a function of centrality

Quarks and gluons, as described by Quantum chromodynamics (QCD), can only exist as constituents of hadrons and cannot be isolated. This property, known as confinement, is due to the fact that gluons can interact with each other, causing the strong force to increase with distance. At high temperatures and short distances, the strong force weakens, allowing partons (quarks and gluons) to move freely. Such a behaviour is known as asymptotic freedom and the phase of deconfined partons is called a Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP). A Large Ion Collider Experiment (ALICE) at CERN studies the QGP by colliding lead (Pb) nuclei at ultra-relativistic energies.