Production of light-flavor hadrons in pp collisions at √s=7and√s=13TeV

The production of π±, K ±, KS0, K ∗(892) , p , ϕ(1020) , Λ , Ξ -, Ω -, and their antiparticles was measured in inelastic proton–proton (pp) collisions at a center-of-mass energy of s = 13 TeV at midrapidity (| y| < 0.5) as a function of transverse momentum (pT) using the ALICE detector at the CERN LHC. Furthermore, the single-particle pT distributions of KS0, Λ , and Λ ¯ in inelastic pp collisions at s=7 TeV are reported here for the first time. The pT distributions are studied at midrapidity within the transverse momentum range 0 ≤ pT≤ 20 GeV/c, depending on the particle species. The pT spectra, integrated yields, and particle yield ratios are discussed as a function of collision energy and compared with measurements at lower s and with results from various general-purpose QCD-inspired Monte Carlo models. A hardening of the spectra at high pT with increasing collision energy is observed, which is similar for all particle species under study. The transverse mass and xT≡2pT/s scaling properties of hadron production are also studied. As the collision energy increases from s = 7–13 TeV, the yields of non- and single-strange hadrons normalized to the pion yields remain approximately constant as a function of s, while ratios for multi-strange hadrons indicate enhancements. The pT-differential cross sections of π±, K ± and p (p ¯) are compared with next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculations, which are found to overestimate the cross sections for π± and p (p ¯) at high pT

Multiplicity dependence of (anti-)deuteron production in pp collisions at s=7TeV

In this letter, the production of deuterons and anti-deuterons in pp collisions at s=7 TeV is studied as a function of the charged-particle multiplicity density at mid-rapidity with the ALICE detector at the LHC. Production yields are measured at mid-rapidity in five multiplicity classes and as a function of the deuteron transverse momentum (pT). The measurements are discussed in the context of hadron–coalescence models. The coalescence parameter B2, extracted from the measured spectra of (anti-)deuterons and primary (anti-)protons, exhibits no significant pT-dependence for pT<3 GeV/c, in agreement with the expectations of a simple coalescence picture. At fixed transverse momentum per nucleon, the B2 parameter is found to decrease smoothly from low multiplicity pp to Pb–Pb collisions, in qualitative agreement with more elaborate coalescence models. The measured mean transverse momentum of (anti-)deuterons in pp is not reproduced by the Blast-Wave model calculations that simultaneously describe pion, kaon and proton spectra, in contrast to central Pb–Pb collisions. The ratio between the pT-integrated yield of deuterons to protons, d/p, is found to increase with the charged-particle multiplicity, as observed in inelastic pp collisions at different centre-of-mass energies. The d/p ratios are reported in a wide range, from the lowest to the highest multiplicity values measured in pp collisions at the LHC

Dielectron production in proton-proton collisions at √s=7 TeV

The first measurement of e(+)e(-) pair production at mid-rapidity (vertical bar eta vertical bar(e) &lt; 0.8) in pp collisions at root s = 7TeV with ALICE at the LHC is presented. The dielectron production is studied as a function of the invariant mass (m(ee )&lt; 3.3 GeV/c(2)), the pair transverse momentum (p(T,ee) &lt; 8 GeV/c), and the pair transverse impact parameter (DCA(ee)), i.e., the average distance of closest approach of the reconstructed electron and positron tracks to the collision vertex, normalised to its resolution. The results are compared with the expectations from a cocktail of known hadronic sources and are well described when PYTHIA is used to generate the heavy-flavour contributions. In the low-mass region (0.14 &lt; m(ee) &lt; 1.1 GeV/c(2)), prompt and non-prompt e(+)e(-) sources can be separated via the DCA(ee). In the intermediate-mass region (1.1 &lt; m(ee) &lt; 2.7 GeV/c(2)), a double-differential fit to the data in m(ee) and p(T,ee) and a fit of the DCA(ee) distribution allow the total cc and bb cross sections to be extracted. Two different event generators, PYTHIA and POWHEG, can reproduce the shape of the two-dimensional m(ee) and p(T,ee) spectra, as well as the shape , of the DCA(ee) distribution, reasonably well. However, differences in the c (c) over bar and b (b) over bar cross sections are observed when using the generators to extrapolate to full phase space. Finally, the ratio of inclusive to decay photons is studied via the measurement of virtual direct photons in the transverse-momentum range 1 &lt; p(T) &lt; 8 GeV/c. This is found to be unity within the statistical and systematic uncertainties and consistent with expectations from next-to-leading order perturbative quantum chromodynamic calculations

Analysis of the apparent nuclear modification in peripheral Pb–Pb collisions at 5.02 TeV

Charged-particle spectra at midrapidity are measured in Pb–Pb collisions at the centre-of-mass energy per nucleon–nucleon pair s NN =5.02 TeV and presented in centrality classes ranging from most central (0–5%) to most peripheral (95–100%) collisions. Possible medium effects are quantified using the nuclear modification factor (R AA ) by comparing the measured spectra with those from proton–proton collisions, scaled by the number of independent nucleon–nucleon collisions obtained from a Glauber model. At large transverse momenta (

Production of the ρ(770)0 meson in pp and Pb-Pb collisions at sNN =2.76 TeV

The production of the ρ(770)0 meson has been measured at midrapidity (|y|<0.5) in pp and centrality differential Pb-Pb collisions at sNN= 2.76 TeV with the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The particles have been reconstructed in the ρ(770)0→π+π- decay channel in the transverse-momentum (pT) range 0.5-11 GeV/c. A centrality-dependent suppression of the ratio of the integrated yields 2ρ(770)0/(π++π-) is observed. The ratio decreases by ∼40% from pp to central Pb-Pb collisions. A study of the pT-differential 2ρ(770)0/(π++π-) ratio reveals that the suppression occurs at low transverse momenta, pT<2 GeV/c. At higher momentum, particle ratios measured in heavy-ion and pp collisions are consistent. The observed suppression is very similar to that previously measured for the K∗(892)0/K ratio and is consistent with EPOS3 predictions that may imply that rescattering in the hadronic phase is a dominant mechanism for the observed suppression

Measurement of the (anti-)3He elliptic flow in Pb–Pb collisions at sNN=5.02TeV

The elliptic flow (v2) of (anti-)3He is measured in Pb–Pb collisions at sNN=5.02TeV in the transverse-momentum (pT) range of 2–6 GeV/c for the centrality classes 0–20%, 20–40%, and 40–60% using the event-plane method. This measurement is compared to that of pions, kaons, and protons at the same center-of-mass energy. A clear mass ordering is observed at low pT, as expected from relativistic hydrodynamics. The violation of the scaling of v2 with the number of constituent quarks at low pT, already observed for identified hadrons and deuterons at LHC energies, is confirmed also for (anti-)3He. The elliptic flow of (anti-)3He is underestimated by the Blast-Wave model and overestimated by a simple coalescence approach based on nucleon scaling. The elliptic flow of (anti-)3He measured in the centrality classes 0–20% and 20–40% is well described by a more sophisticated coalescence model where the phase-space distributions of protons and neutrons are generated using the iEBE-VISHNU hybrid model with AMPT initial conditions

K*(892)(0) and phi(1020) production at midrapidity in pp collisions at root s=8 TeV

The production of K* (892)(0) and phi(1020) in pp collisions at root s = 8 TeV was measured by using Run 1 data collected by the ALICE collaboration at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The P-T-differential yields d(2)N/dydp(T), in the range 0 < p(T) < 20 GeV/c for K*(0) and 0.4 < p(T) < 16 GeV/c for phi have been measured at midrapidity, vertical bar y vertical bar < 0.5. Moreover, improved measurements of the K*(0)(892) and phi (1020) at root s = 7 TeV are presented. The collision energy dependence of p(T) distributions, p(T)-integrated yields, and particle ratios in inelastic pp collisions are examined. The results are also compared with different collision systems. The values of the particle ratios are found to be similar to those measured at other LHC energies. In pp collisions a hardening of the particle spectra is observed with increasing energy, but at the same time it is also observed that the relative particle abundances are independent of the collision energy. The P-T-differential yields of K*(0) and phi in pp collisions at root s = 8 TeV are compared with the expectations of different Monte Carlo event generators

Azimuthal Anisotropy of Heavy-Flavor Decay Electrons in p -Pb Collisions at sNN =5.02 TeV

Angular conclations between heavy-flavor decay electrons and charged particles at midrapidity (vertical bar eta vertical bar < 0.8) are measured in p-Pb collisions at root s(NN) = 5.02 TeV. The analysis is carried out for the 0%-20% (high) and 60%-100% (low) multiplicity ranges. The jet contribution in the correlation distribution from high-multiplicity events is removed by subtracting the distribution from low-multiplicity events. An azimuthal modulation remains after removing the jet contribution, similar to previous observations in two-particle angular correlation measurements for light-flavor hadrons. A Fourier decomposition of the modulation results in a positive second-order coefficient (nu(2)) for heavy-flavor decay electrons in the transverse momentum interval 1.5 < p(T) < 4 GeV/c in high-multiplicity events, with a significance larger than 5 sigma. The results are compared with those of charged particles at midrapidity and those of inclusive muons at forward rapidity. The nu(2) measurement of open heavy-flavor particles at midrapidity in small collision systems could provide crucial information to help interpret the anisotropies observed in such systems

Relative particle yield fluctuations in Pb--Pb collisions at √sNN=2.76TeV

First results on K/pi, pi/pi and K/p fluctuations are obtained with the ALICE detector at the CERN LHC as a function of centrality in Pb-Pb collisions at v root s(NN) = 2.76 TeV. The observable nu(dyn), which is defined in terms of the moments of particle multiplicity distributions, is used to quantify the magnitude of dynamical fluctuations of relative particle yields and also provides insight into the correlation between particle pairs. This study is based on a novel experimental technique, called the Identity Method, which allows one to measure the moments of multiplicity distributions in case of incomplete particle identification. The results for p/pi show a change of sign in.dyn from positive to negative towards more peripheral collisions. For central collisions, the results follow the smooth trend of the data at lower energies and.dyn exhibits a change in sign for p/pi and K/p. nu(dyn

Azimuthal correlations of prompt D mesons with charged particles in pp and p–Pb collisions at √sNN=5.02TeV

The measurement of the azimuthal-correlation function of prompt D mesons with charged particles in pp collisions at s=5.02TeV and p–Pb collisions at sNN=5.02TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC is reported. The D , D +, and D ∗ + mesons, together with their charge conjugates, were reconstructed at midrapidity in the transverse momentum interval 30.3GeV/c and pseudorapidity | η| < 0.8. The properties of the correlation peaks appearing in the near- and away-side regions (for Δ φ≈ 0 and Δ φ≈ π, respectively) were extracted via a fit to the azimuthal correlation functions. The shape of the correlation functions and the near- and away-side peak features are found to be consistent in pp and p–Pb collisions, showing no modifications due to nuclear effects within uncertainties. The results are compared with predictions from Monte Carlo simulations performed with the PYTHIA, POWHEG+PYTHIA, HERWIG, and EPOS 3 event generators