First measurement of prompt and non-prompt D⁎+ vector meson spin alignment in pp collisions at s=13 TeV

This letter reports the first measurement of spin alignment, with respect to the helicity axis, for D*+ vector mesons and their charge conjugates from charm-quark hadronisation (prompt) and from beauty-meson decays (non-prompt) in hadron collisions. The measurements were performed at midrapidity (|y| D0 (-> K- pi+) pi+ decay products, in the D*+ rest frame, with respect to the D*+ momentum direction in the pp centre of mass frame. The rho_00 value for prompt D*+ mesons is consistent with 1/3, which implies no spin alignment. However, for non-prompt D*+ mesons an evidence of rho_00 larger than 1/3 is found. The measured value of the spin density element is in the interval, which is consistent with a Pythia 8 Monte Carlo simulation coupled with the EvtGen package, which implements the helicity conservation in the decay of D*+ meson from beauty mesons. In non-central heavy-ion collisions, the spin of the D*+ mesons may be globally aligned with the direction of the initial angular momentum and magnetic field. Based on the results for pp collisions reported in this letter it is shown that alignment of non-prompt D*+ mesons due to the helicity conservation coupled to the collective anisotropic expansion may mimic the signal of global spin alignment in heavy-ion collisions

Probing the chiral magnetic wave with charge-dependent flow measurements in Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC

The Chiral MagneticWave (CMW) phenomenon is essential to provide insights into the strong interaction in QCD, the properties of the quark-gluon plasma, and the topological characteristics of the early universe, offering a deeper understanding of fundamental physics in high-energy collisions. Measurements of the charge-dependent anisotropic flow coefficients are studied in Pb-Pb collisions at center-of-mass energy per nucleon-nucleon collision v sNN = 5.02TeV to probe the CMW. In particular, the slope of the normalized difference in elliptic (v2) and triangular (v3) flow coefficients of positively and negatively charged particles as a function of their event-wise normalized number difference, is reported for inclusive and identified particles. The slope rNorm 3 is found to be larger than zero and to have a magnitude similar to rNorm 2, thus pointing to a large background contribution for these measurements. Furthermore, rNorm 2 can be described by a blast wave model calculation that incorporates local charge conservation. In addition, using the event shape engineering technique yields a fraction of CMW (fCMW) contribution to this measurement which is compatible with zero. This measurement provides the very first upper limit for fCMW, and in the 10-60% centrality interval it is found to be 26% (38%) at 95% (99.7%) confidence level

Study of flavor dependence of the baryon-to-meson ratio in proton-proton collisions at s=13 TeV

The production cross sections of D0 and Λ+c hadrons originating from beauty-hadron decays (i.e., nonprompt) were measured for the first time at midrapidity (|y|<0.5) by the ALICE Collaboration in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy √s=13 TeV. They are described within uncertainties by perturbative QCD calculations employing the fragmentation fractions of beauty quarks to baryons measured at forward rapidity by the LHCb Collaboration. The b ̄b production cross section per unit of rapidity at midrapidity, estimated from these measurements, is dσb ̄b/dy||y|<0.5=83.1±3.5(stat)±5.4(syst)+12.3−3.2(extrap) μb. The baryon-to-meson ratios are computed to investigate the hadronization mechanism of beauty quarks. The nonprompt Λ+c/D0 production ratio has a similar trend to the one measured for the promptly produced charmed particles and to the p/π+ and Λ/K0S ratios, suggesting a similar baryon-formation mechanism among light, strange, charm, and beauty hadrons. The pT -integrated nonprompt Λ+c/D0 ratio is found to be significantly higher than the one measured in e+e− collisions

Constraining the K ¯ N coupled channel dynamics using femtoscopic correlations at the LHC

The interaction of K−with protons is characterised by the presence of several coupled channels, systems like K 0 n and π with a similar mass and the same quantum numbers as the K−p state. The strengths of these couplings to the K−p system are of crucial importance for the understanding of the nature of the (1405) resonance and of the attractive K−p strong interaction. In this arti- cle, we present measurements of the K−p correlation func- tions in relative momentum space obtained in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV, in p–Pb collisions at √sNN = 5.02 TeV, and (semi)peripheral Pb–Pb collisions at √sNN = 5.02 TeV. The emitting source size, composed of a core radius anchored to the K+p correlation and of a resonance halo specific to each particle pair, varies between 1 and 2 fm in these collision sys- tems. The strength and the effects of the K 0 n and π inelas- tic channels on the measured K−p correlation function are investigated in the different colliding systems by comparing the data with state-of-the-art models of chiral potentials. A novel approach to determine the conversion weights ω, nec- essary to quantify the amount of produced inelastic channels in the correlation function, is presented. In this method, parti- cle yields are estimated from thermal model predictions, and their kinematic distribution from blast-wave fits to measured data. The comparison of chiral potentials to the measured K−p interaction indicates that, while the π –K−p dynam- ics is well reproduced by the model, the coupling to the K 0 n channel in the model is currently underestimate

Constraining the K‾N{\overline{\textrm{K}}}{\textrm{N}} K ¯ N coupled channel dynamics using femtoscopic correlations at the LHC

Abstract The interaction of $$\textrm{K}^{-}$$ K - with protons is characterised by the presence of several coupled channels, systems like $${\overline{\textrm{K}}}^0$$ K ¯ 0 n and \uppi \Sigma π Σ with a similar mass and the same quantum numbers as the $$\textrm{K}^{-}$$ K - p state. The strengths of these couplings to the $$\textrm{K}^{-}$$ K - p system are of crucial importance for the understanding of the nature of the $$\Lambda (1405)$$ Λ ( 1405 ) resonance and of the attractive $$\textrm{K}^{-}$$ K - p strong interaction. In this article, we present measurements of the $$\textrm{K}^{-}$$ K - p correlation functions in relative momentum space obtained in pp collisions at $$\sqrt{s}~=~13$$ s = 13  Te, in p–Pb collisions at $$\sqrt{s_{\textrm{NN}}}~=~5.02$$ s NN = 5.02  Te, and (semi)peripheral Pb–Pb collisions at $$\sqrt{s_{\textrm{NN}}}~=~5.02$$ s NN = 5.02  Te. The emitting source size, composed of a core radius anchored to the $$\textrm{K}^{+}$$ K + p correlation and of a resonance halo specific to each particle pair, varies between 1 and 2 fm in these collision systems. The strength and the effects of the $${\overline{\textrm{K}}}^0$$ K ¯ 0 n and \uppi \Sigma π Σ inelastic channels on the measured $$\textrm{K}^{-}$$ K - p correlation function are investigated in the different colliding systems by comparing the data with state-of-the-art models of chiral potentials. A novel approach to determine the conversion weights $$\omega$$ ω , necessary to quantify the amount of produced inelastic channels in the correlation function, is presented. In this method, particle yields are estimated from thermal model predictions, and their kinematic distribution from blast-wave fits to measured data. The comparison of chiral potentials to the measured $$\textrm{K}^{-}$$ K - p interaction indicates that, while the \uppi \Sigma π Σ – $$\textrm{K}^{-}$$ K - p dynamics is well reproduced by the model, the coupling to the $${\overline{\textrm{K}}}^0$$ K ¯ 0 n channel in the model is currently underestimated