The CMS Collaboration announces several new results for the Hard Probes 2026 conference.
The CMS Collaboration presented a number of new exciting results at The 13th International Conference on Hard and Electromagnetic Probes of High-Energy Nuclear Collisions, or HardProbes 2026, taking place at Nashville, Tennessee from 22 to 26 June 2026. The highlights include new measurements of quark-qluon plasma (QGP) interactions with heavy flavor particles and jets in lead-lead (PbPb) collisions, as well as a plethora of fresh searches for signatures of QGP in the light-ions data taken for the first time at the LHC in 2025.
CMS presents its first measurement of the differential cross section of strange particles K0S and Λ, as a function of their transverse momentum, in oxygen-oxygen (OO) collisions. In addition, nuclear modification factors are extracted by comparing to an appropriately scaled proton-proton (pp) reference. Baryon-to-meson ratios in minimum bias OO and pp collisions are also presented [HIN-25-020].
New results are also being released on hydrodynamic flow in light ions. First, CMS has measured elliptical and triangular azimuthal anisotropic flow parameters v2 and v3 in OO and neon-neon (NeNe) collisions up to as high as 50 GeV. High-pT elliptical flow measurements are understood in heavy-ion collisions to be a product of differential jet energy loss; therefore, these results shed new light on recent observation of high-pT particle suppression in light ions [HIN-26-005]. Second, new measurements of radial flow through v0(pT)/v0 observables show hints of universality across high-multiplicity pp, pPb, OO, and NeNe collisions. Sensitive to the expansion of the QGP formed in heavy-ion collisions, their measurement in light-ions suggests that this collectivity signature can emerge at the lowest multiplicities, where the formation of the plasma is not guaranteed [HIN-25-016].
In PbPb collisions, several new measurements are being presented. A new measurement compares v2 of the ΛC baryon to that of the D0 meson, extending previous experimental measurements to higher transverse momenta where energy loss effects should dominate [HIN-25-022]. Furthermore, D0 production in high-pT jets is measured in PbPb for the first time, with potential sensitivity to the dead-cone effect and the possible filling of the dead-cone with medium induced gluon radiation [HIN-25-013].
Finally, in the small systems of pPb and pp collisions, a search and a measurement are released for the first time. In pPb, the first Z+hadron correlation measurement is performed in search of jet energy loss effects and medium response [HIN-26-007]. In pp, a measurement of gluon splitting to bottom quark-antiquark pairs is performed via like-sign dimuon pairs. Subsequent measurement in PbPb is expected to find an enhancement at intermediate gluon pT [HIN-26-008].
Here’s a page listing the CMS speakers at the conference, along with what they will be talking about: Meet the CMS speakers at HP2026
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