Collisions of ultrarelativistic heavy-ions at RHIC and the LHC are known to produce a novel state of matter called the quark-gluon plasma (QGP). Recently, motivated by the observation of signatures traditionally associated with the QGP in smaller proton-nucleus and even high-multiplicity proton-proton collisions, the LHC collided the light-ions of oxygen-oxygen (OO) and neon-neon (NeNe) to study QGP formation in intermediate systems. In this talk, new CMS results from the light-ions datataking are presented. The pseudorapidity distribution of charged particles produced in OO collisions are studied to characterize the initial conditions of the light ion system. Furthermore, collectivity and nuclear structure are explored via two- and four-particle correlations measured as a function of centrality in OO and NeNe. Finally, the charged-particle nuclear modification factor, or $R_{\mathrm{AA}}$, is studied for both OO and NeNe in a high range of transverse momentum to search for parton-medium interactions that manifest in a suppression of energetic particles, a phenomena also known as jet quenching. Model comparisons, future directions, and the implications of all these results for the onset of the QGP in collisions of small-to-large systems will be discussed.
Prithwish Tribedy