ALICE mesurements of heavy-flavour production in pp and p-Pb collisions at the LHC

The D meson yields as a function of charged-particle multiplicity in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV and in p-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}=5.02$ TeV are presented. The measurement of the yields of electrons from heavy-flavour hadron decays as a function of charged-particle multiplicity in p-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}=5.02$ TeV are shown as well. The measurement of azimuthal correlations of prompt D mesons and charged hadrons in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV and in p-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}=5.02$ TeV are also presented. The results are compared with expectations from models.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Hard and Electromagnetic Probes of High-energy Nuclear Collisions, 23-27 September 2016, Wuhan, Chin

Measurement of D-meson production in p-Pb collisions with the ALICE detector

The ALICE Collaboration has measured the production of prompt D mesons in pPb collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 5.02 TeV in the rapidity range -0.04 < y_{cms} < 0.96 via the exclusive reconstruction of their hadronic decays D0->K-pi+, D+->K- pi+ pi+, D*+->D0 pi+ and Ds->phi pi+. The pT-differential production cross sections and the pT-dependent nuclear modification factors with respect to a proton-proton reference, RpPb, are presented.Comment: Strangeness in Quark Matter 2013 proceedings, 4 pages, 2 figure

Chemical Characterization and Cytotoxic and Antioxidant Activity Evaluation of the Ethanol Extract from the Bulbs of Pancratium maritimun Collected in Sicily

P. maritimum L., belonging to the Amaryllidaceae family, is a species that grows on beaches and coastal sand dunes mainly on both sides of the Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea, the Middle East, and up to the Caucasus region. It has been largely investigated due to its several interesting biological properties. With the aim of providing new insights into the phytochemistry and pharmacology of this species, the ethanolic extract of the bulbs from a local accession, not previously studied, growing in Sicily (Italy), was investigated. This chemical analysis, performed by mono- and bi-dimensional NMR spectroscopy, as well as LC-DAD-MSn, allowed to identify several alkaloids, three of which were never detected in the genus Pancratium. Furthermore, the cytotoxicity of the preparation was assessed in differentiated human Caco-2 intestinal cells by trypan blue exclusion assay, and its antioxidant potential was evaluated using the DCFH-DA radical scavenging method. The results obtained demonstrate that P. maritimum bulbs’ extract exerts no cytotoxic effect and is able to remove free radicals at all the concentrations tested

Energy dependence and fluctuations of anisotropic flow in Pb-Pb collisions at 1asNN = 5.02 and 2.76 TeV

Measurements of anisotropic flow coefficients with two- and multi-particle cu- mulants for inclusive charged particles in Pb\u2013Pb collisions at 1asNN = 5.02 and 2.76 TeV are reported in the pseudorapidity range |\u3b7| < 0.8 and transverse momentum 0.2 < pT < 50 GeV/c. The full data sample collected by the ALICE detector in 2015 (2010), corre- sponding to an integrated luminosity of 12.7 (2.0) \u3bcb 121 in the centrality range 0\u201380%, is analysed. Flow coefficients up to the sixth flow harmonic (v6) are reported and a de- tailed comparison among results at the two energies is carried out. The pT dependence of anisotropic flow coefficients and its evolution with respect to centrality and harmonic number n are investigated. An approximate power-law scaling of the form vn(pT) 3c pn/3 T is observed for all flow harmonics at low pT (0.2 < pT < 3 GeV/c). At the same time, the ratios v /vn/m are observed to be essentially independent of p for most centralities up to nmT about pT = 10 GeV/c. Analysing the differences among higher-order cumulants of elliptic flow (v2), which have different sensitivities to flow fluctuations, a measurement of the stan- dardised skewness of the event-by-event v2 distribution P(v2) is reported and constraints on its higher moments are provided. The Elliptic Power distribution is used to parametrise P(v2), extracting its parameters from fits to cumulants. The measurements are compared to different model predictions in order to discriminate among initial-state models and to constrain the temperature dependence of the shear viscosity to entropy-density ratio

Inclusive J/\u3c8 production in Xe\u2013Xe collisions at 1asNN = 5.44 TeV

Inclusive J/\u3c8 production is studied in Xe\u2013Xe interactions at a centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of 1asNN = 5.44 TeV, using the ALICE detector at the CERN LHC. The J/\u3c8 meson is reconstructed via its decay into a muon pair, in the centre-of-mass rapidity interval 2.5 < y < 4 and down to zero transverse momentum. In this Letter, the nuclear modification factors RAA for inclusive J/\u3c8, measured in the centrality range 0\u201390% as well as in the centrality intervals 0\u201320% and 20\u201390% are presented. The RAA values are compared to previously published results for Pb\u2013Pb collisions at 1asNN = 5.02 TeV and to the calculation of a transport model. A good agreement is found between Xe\u2013Xe and Pb\u2013Pb results as well as between data and the model

Azimuthally-differential pion femtoscopy relative to the third harmonic event plane in Pb\u2013Pb collisions at 1asNN = 2.76TeV

Azimuthally-differential femtoscopic measurements, being sensitive to spatio-temporal characteristics of the source as well as to the collective velocity fields at freeze out, provide very important information on the nature and dynamics of the system evolution. While the HBT radii oscillations relative to the second harmonic event plane measured recently reflect mostly the spatial geometry of the source, model studies have shown that the HBT radii oscillations relative to the third harmonic event plane are predominantly defined by the velocity fields. In this Letter, we present the first results on azimuthally-differential pion femtoscopy relative to the third harmonic event plane as a function of the pion pair transverse momentum kT for different collision centralities in Pb\u2013Pb collisions at 1asNN = 2.76 TeV. We find that the Rside and Rout radii, which characterize the pion source size in the directions perpendicular and parallel to the pion transverse momentum, oscillate in phase relative to the third harmonic event plane, similar to the results from 3+1D hydrodynamical calculations. The observed radii oscillations unambiguously signal a collective expansion and anisotropy in the velocity fields. A comparison of the measured radii oscillations with the Blast-Wave model calculations indicate that the initial state triangularity is washed- out at freeze out

Constraints on jet quenching in p\u2013Pb collisions at 1asNN = 5.02\u2009TeV measured by the event-activity dependence of semi-inclusive hadron-jet distributions

The ALICE Collaboration reports the measurement of semi-inclusive distributions of charged-particle jets recoiling from a high-transverse momentum trigger hadron in p\u2013Pb collisions at 1asNN = 5.02 TeV. Jets are reconstructed from charged-particle tracks using the anti-kT algorithm with resolution parameter R = 0.2 and 0.4. A data-driven statistical approach is used to correct the uncorrelated background jet yield. Recoil jet distributions are reported for jet transverse momentum 15 < pch < 50 GeV/c and are compared in T,jet various intervals of p\u2013Pb event activity, based on charged-particle multiplicity and zero-degree neutral energy in the forward (Pb-going) direction. The semi-inclusive observable is self-normalized and such comparisons do not require the interpretation of p\u2013Pb event activity in terms of collision geometry, in contrast to inclusive jet observables. These measurements provide new constraints on the magnitude of jet quenching in small systems at the LHC. In p\u2013Pb collisions with high event activity, the average medium-induced out-of-cone energy transport for jets with R = 0.4 and 15 < pch < 50 GeV/c is T,jet measured to be less than 0.4 GeV/c at 90% confidence, which is over an order of magnitude smaller than a similar measurement for central Pb\u2013Pb collisions at 1asNN =2.76TeV. Comparison is made to theoretical calculations of jet quenching in small systems, and to inclusive jet measurements in p\u2013Pb collisions selected by event activity at the LHC and in d\u2013Au collisions at RHIC

Azimuthal anisotropy of charged jet production in root s(NN)=2.76 TeV Pb-Pb collisions

We present measurements of the azimuthal dependence of charged jet production in central and semi-central root s(NN) = 2.76 TeV Pb-Pb collisions with respect to the second harmonic event plane, quantified as nu(ch)(2) (jet). Jet finding is performed employing the anti-k(T) algorithm with a resolution parameter R = 0.2 using charged tracks from the ALICE tracking system. The contribution of the azimuthal anisotropy of the underlying event is taken into account event-by-event. The remaining (statistical) region-to-region fluctuations are removed on an ensemble basis by unfolding the jet spectra for different event plane orientations independently. Significant non-zero nu(ch)(2) (jet) is observed in semi-central collisions (30-50% centrality) for 20 <p(T)(ch) (jet) <90 GeV/c. The azimuthal dependence of the charged jet production is similar to the dependence observed for jets comprising both charged and neutral fragments, and compatible with measurements of the nu(2) of single charged particles at high p(T). Good agreement between the data and predictions from JEWEL, an event generator simulating parton shower evolution in the presence of a dense QCD medium, is found in semi-central collisions. (C) 2015 CERN for the benefit of the ALICE Collaboration. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Peer reviewe

Production of He-4 and (4) in Pb-Pb collisions at root(NN)-N-S=2.76 TeV at the LHC

Results on the production of He-4 and (4) nuclei in Pb-Pb collisions at root(NN)-N-S = 2.76 TeV in the rapidity range vertical bar y vertical bar <1, using the ALICE detector, are presented in this paper. The rapidity densities corresponding to 0-10% central events are found to be dN/dy4(He) = (0.8 +/- 0.4 (stat) +/- 0.3 (syst)) x 10(-6) and dN/dy4 = (1.1 +/- 0.4 (stat) +/- 0.2 (syst)) x 10(-6), respectively. This is in agreement with the statistical thermal model expectation assuming the same chemical freeze-out temperature (T-chem = 156 MeV) as for light hadrons. The measured ratio of (4)/He-4 is 1.4 +/- 0.8 (stat) +/- 0.5 (syst). (C) 2018 Published by Elsevier B.V.Peer reviewe