This thesis provides a comprehensive view of the physics of charmed hadrons in high-energy proton-proton and heavy-ion collisions. Given their large masses, charm quarks are produced in the early stage of a heavy-ion collision and they subsequently experience the full system evolution probing the colour-deconfined medium called quark-gluon plasma (QGP) created in such collisions. In this thesis, the mechanisms of charm-quark in-medium energy loss and hadronisation are discussed via the measurements of the production of charm mesons with (Ds+) and without (D+) strange-quark content in different colliding systems, using data collected by the ALICE experiment at the CERN LHC. The participation of the charm quark and its possible thermalisation in the QGP are studied via measurements of azimuthal anisotropies in the production of D+ mesons. Finally, the prospects for future measurements with the upgraded ALICE experimental apparatus and with more refined machine learning techniques are presented.

This thesis presents the first measurements of jets in relativistic heavy ion collisions as reported by the ATLAS Collaboration. These include the first direct observation of jet quenching through the observation of a centrality-dependent dijet asymmetry. Also, a series of jet suppression measurements are presented, which provide quantitative constraints on theoretical models of jet quenching. These results follow a detailed introduction to heavy ion physics with emphasis on the phenomenon of jet quenching and a comprehensive description of the ATLAS detector and its capabilities with regard to performing these measurements.

This book focuses on new experimental and theoretical advances concerning the role of strange and heavy-flavour quarks in high-energy heavy-ion collisions and in astrophysical phenomena. The topics covered include • Strangeness and heavy-quark production in nuclear collisions and hadronic interactions, • Hadron resonances in the strongly-coupled partonic and hadronic medium, • Bulk matter phenomena associated with strange and heavy quarks, • QCD phase structure, • Collectivity in small systems, • Strangeness in astrophysics,• Open questions and new developments.

This book presents proceedings from the XXIV DAE-BRNS High Energy Physics (HEP) Symposium 2020, held at the National Institute of Science Education and Research, Jatni, Odisha, India. The contributions cover a variety of topics in particle physics, astroparticle physics, cosmology and related areas from both experimental and theoretical perspectives, namely (1) Standard Model Physics, (2) Beyond Standard Model Physics, (3) Relativistic Heavy-Ion Physics & QCD, (4) Neutrino Physics, (5) Particle Astrophysics & Cosmology, (6) Detector Development Future Facilities and Experiments, (7) Formal Theory, (8) Societal Applications: Medical Physics, Imaging, etc.

This volume presents the peer-reviewed proceedings of the XXIII DAE-BRNS High Energy Physics Symposium 2018, which was held at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India, on 10-15 December 2018. Gathering selected contributions, the book highlights the latest developments and research trends in physics, detectors and instrumentation relevant to all branches of particle physics, astroparticle physics and closely related fields. The major topics covered include Standard Model physics, beyond Standard Model physics, neutrino physics, cosmology, formal theory, heavy ion physics & quantum chromodynamics (QCD), particle detectors and future experiments. Given the range of topics discussed, the book will be useful for beginners as well as advanced researchers in the field.

This thesis offers an excellent, comprehensive introduction to the physics of the quark–gluon plasma. It clearly explains the connection between theory and experiment, making the topic accessible to non-specialists in this field. The experimental work, which contributes significantly to our understanding of the quark–gluon plasma, is described in great detail. The results described in the final chapters of the thesis provide interesting new ideas about the connection between proton-proton and Pb-Pb collisions. Simone Schuchmann received the 'ALICE Thesis Award 2016' for this excellent work.