The ALICE detector is optimized to investigate collisions of heavy-ions - in practice lead-lead (Pb-Pb) - in which the production of quark-gluon plasma (QGP), a new state of matter, will provide invaluable insight into the "quark-gluon coloured world". Many aspects of this new state make particle identification an obligation, especially in the study of strangeness enhancement and heavy-flavour production. One technique developed for ALICE is based on relatively "low-tech" detectors, considering the many areas of frontier technology employed at the LHC, but its performance is proving surprisingly good.
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