Multiplicity dependence of charged-particle production in pp, p–Pb, Xe–Xe and Pb–Pb collisions at the LHC

Multiplicity (Nch) distributions and transverse momentum (pT) spectra of inclusive primary charged particles in the kinematic range of |η|<0.8 and 0.15 GeV/c<pT<10 GeV/c are reported for pp, p–Pb, Xe–Xe and Pb–Pb collisions at centre-of-mass energies per nucleon pair ranging from sNN=2.76 TeV up to 13 TeV. A sequential two-dimensional unfolding procedure is used to extract the correlation between the transverse momentum of primary charged particles and the charged-particle multiplicity of the corresponding collision. This correlation sharply characterises important features of the final state of a collision and, therefore, can be used as a stringent test of theoretical models. The multiplicity distributions as well as the mean and standard deviation derived from the pT spectra are compared to state-of-the-art model predictions. Providing these fundamental observables of bulk particle production consistently across a wide range of collision energies and system sizes can serve as an important input for tuning Monte Carlo event generators

Study of charged particle production at high pT using event topology in pp, p–Pb and Pb–Pb collisions at √(sNN)=5.02 TeV

This letter reports measurements which characterize the underlying event associated with hard scatterings at mid-pseudorapidity (|η|<0.8) in pp, p–Pb and Pb–Pb collisions at centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair, sNN=5.02 TeV. The measurements are performed with ALICE at the LHC. Different multiplicity classes are defined based on the event activity measured at forward rapidities. The hard scatterings are identified by the leading particle defined as the charged particle with the largest transverse momentum (pT) in the collision and having 8 <pT<15 GeV/c. The pT spectra of associated particles (0.5 ≤pT<6 GeV/c) are measured in different azimuthal regions defined with respect to the leading particle direction: toward, transverse, and away. The associated charged particle yields in the transverse region are subtracted from those of the away and toward regions. The remaining jet-like yields are reported as a function of the multiplicity measured in the transverse region. The measurements show a suppression of the jet-like yield in the away region and an enhancement of high-pT associated particles in the toward region in central Pb–Pb collisions, as compared to minimum-bias pp collisions. These observations are consistent with previous measurements that used two-particle correlations, and with an interpretation in terms of parton energy loss in a high-density quark gluon plasma. These yield modifications vanish in peripheral Pb–Pb collisions and are not observed in either high-multiplicity pp or p–Pb collisions

Measurement of the Λ hyperon lifetime

A new, more precise measurement of the Λ hyperon lifetime is performed using a large data sample of Pb-Pb collisions at sNN=5.02 TeV with ALICE. The Λ and Λ¯ hyperons are reconstructed at midrapidity using their two-body weak decay channel Λ→p+π- and Λ¯→p¯+π+. The measured value of the Λ lifetime is τΛ=[261.07±0.37(stat.)±0.72(syst.)] ps. The relative difference between the lifetime of Λ and Λ¯, which represents an important test of CPT invariance in the strangeness sector, is also measured. The obtained value (τΛ-τΛ¯)/τΛ=0.0013±0.0028(stat.)±0.0021(syst.) is consistent with zero within the uncertainties. Both measurements of the Λ hyperon lifetime and of the relative difference between τΛ and τΛ¯ are in agreement with the corresponding world averages of the Particle Data Group and about a factor of three more precise