The ALICE Transition Radiation Detector: Construction, operation, and performance

The Transition Radiation Detector (TRD) was designed and built to enhance the capabilities of the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). While aimed at providing electron identification and triggering, the TRD also contributes significantly to the track reconstruction and calibration in the central barrel of ALICE. In this paper the design, construction, operation, and performance of this detector are discussed. A pion rejection factor of up to 410 is achieved at a momentum of 1 GeV/c in p-Pb collisions and the resolution at high transverse momentum improves by about 40% when including the TRD information in track reconstruction. The triggering capability is demonstrated both for jet, light nuclei, and electron selection. (c) 2017 CERN for the benefit of the Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V

Evolution of the longitudinal and azimuthal structure of the near-side jet peak in Pb-Pb collisions at 1asNN = 2.76 TeV

In two-particle angular correlation measurements, jets give rise to a near-side peak, formed by particles associated to a higher-pT trigger particle. Measurements of these correlations as a function of pseudorapidity ( \u3b7) and azimuthal ( \u3c6) differences are used to extract the centrality and pT dependence of the shape of the near-side peak in the pT range 1 < pT < 8 GeV/c in Pb-Pb and pp collisions at 1asNN = 2.76 TeV. A combined fit of the near-side peak and long-range correlations is applied to the data and the peak shape is quantified by the variance of the distributions. While the width of the peak in the \u3c6 direction is almost independent of centrality, a significant broadening in the \u3b7 direction is found from peripheral to central collisions. This feature is prominent for the low-pT region and vanishes above 4 GeV/c. The widths measured in peripheral collisions are equal to those in pp collisions in the \u3c6 direction and above 3 GeV/c in the \u3b7 direction. Furthermore, for the 10% most central collisions and 1 < pT,assoc < 2 GeV/c, 1 < pT,trig < 3 GeV/c, a departure from a Gaussian shape is found: a depletion develops around the center of the peak. The results are compared to A Multi-Phase Transport (AMPT) model simulation as well as other theoretical calculations indicating that the broadening and the development of the depletion are connected to the strength of radial and longitudinal flow

Elliptic flow of identified hadrons in Pb-Pb collisions at 1asNN = 2.76 TeV

The elliptic flow coefficient (v2) of identified particles in Pb-Pb collisions at 1asNN = 2.76 TeV was measured with the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The results were obtained with the Scalar Product method, a two-particle corre- lation technique, using a pseudo-rapidity gap of | 06\u3b7| > 0.9 between the identified hadron under study and the reference particles. The v2 is reported for \u3c0\ub1, K\ub1, K0S, p+p, \u3c6, \u39b+\u39b, \u39e 12+\u39e+ and \u3a9 12+\u3a9+ in several collision centralities. In the low transverse momentum (pT) region, pT 3 GeV/c

Centrality dependence of inclusive J/\u3c8 production in p-Pb collisions at 1asNN = 5.02 TeV

We present a measurement of inclusive J/\u3c8 production in p-Pb collisions at 1asNN = 5.02TeV as a function of the centrality of the collision, as estimated from the energy deposited in the Zero Degree Calorimeters. The measurement is performed with the ALICE detector down to zero transverse momentum, pT, in the backward ( 124.46 < ycms < 122.96) and forward (2.03 < ycms < 3.53) rapidity intervals in the dimuon decay channel and in the mid-rapidity region ( 121.37 < ycms < 0.43) in the dielectron decay channel. The backward and forward rapidity intervals correspond to the Pb-going and p-going direction, respectively. The pT-differential J/\u3c8 production cross section at backward and forward rapidity is measured for several centrality classes, together with the corresponding average pT and pT2 values. The nuclear modification factor is presented as a function of centrality for the three rapidity intervals, and as a function of pT for several centrality classes at backward and forward rapidity. At mid- and forward rapidity, the J/\u3c8 yield is suppressed up to 40% compared to that in pp interactions scaled by the number of binary collisions. The degree of suppression increases towards central p-Pb collisions at forward rapidity, and with decreasing pT of the J/\u3c8. At backward rapidity, the nuclear modification factor is compatible with unity within the total uncertainties, with an increasing trend from peripheral to central p-Pb collisions

Centrality dependence of high-pT D meson suppression in Pb-Pb collisions at 1asNN = 2.76 TeV

The nuclear modification factor, RAA, of the prompt charmed mesons D0, D+ and D 17+, and their antiparticles, was measured with the ALICE detector in Pb-Pb collisions at a centre-of-mass energy 1asNN = 2.76 TeV in two transverse momentum intervals, 5 < pT < 8GeV/c and 8 < pT < 16GeV/c, and in six collision centrality classes. The RAA shows a maximum suppression of a factor of 5\u20136 in the 10% most central collisions. The suppression and its centrality dependence are compatible within uncertainties with those of charged pions. A comparison with the RAA of non-prompt J/\u3c8 from B meson decays, measured by the CMS Collaboration, hints at a larger suppression of D mesons in the most central collisions

Studies of J/\u3c8 production at forward rapidity in Pb\u2013Pb collisions at sNNsqrtsmathrmNN sqrts_mathrmNN = 5.02 TeV

The inclusive J/\u3c8 production in Pb\u2013Pb collisions at the center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair sNN 12 12 12 1a = 5.02 TeV, measured with the ALICE detector at the CERN LHC, is reported. The J/\u3c8 meson is reconstructed via the dimuon decay channel at forward rapidity (2.5 < y < 4) down to zero transverse momentum. The suppression of the J/\u3c8 yield in Pb\u2013Pb collisions with respect to binary-scaled pp collisions is quantified by the nuclear modification factor (RAA). The RAA at sNN 12 12 12 1a = 5.02 TeV is presented and compared with previous measurements at sNN 12 12 12 1a = 2.76 TeV as a function of the centrality of the collision, and of the J/\u3c8 transverse momentum and rapidity. The inclusive J/\u3c8 RAA shows a suppression increasing toward higher transverse momentum, with a steeper dependence for central collisions. The modification of the J/\u3c8 average transverse momentum and average squared transverse momentum is also studied. Comparisons with the results of models based on a transport equation and on statistical hadronization are carried out

Production of inclusive gamma(1S) and gamma(2S) in p-Pb collisions at, root S-NN=5.02 TeV

We report on the production of inclusive \u3a5 (1S) and \u3a5 (2S) in p\u2013Pb collisions at 1asNN = 5.02 TeV at the LHC. The measurement is performed with the ALICE detector at backward ( 124.46 < ycms < 122.96) and forward (2.03 < ycms < 3.53) rapidity down to zero transverse momentum. The production cross sections of the \u3a5(1S) and \u3a5(2S) are presented, as well as the nuclear modification factor and the ratio of the forward to backward yields of \u3a5 (1S). A suppression of the inclusive \u3a5 (1S) yield in p\u2013Pb collisions with respect to the yield from pp collisions scaled by the number of binary nucleon\u2013nucleon collisions is observed at forward rapidity but not at backward rapidity. The results are compared to theoretical model calculations including nuclear shadowing or partonic energy loss effects

Production of (anti-)He-3 and (anti-)H-3 in p-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=5.02 TeV

The transverse momentum (p(T)) differential yields of (anti-)He-3 and (anti-)H-3 measured in p-Pb collisions at root s(NN) = 5.02 TeV with ALICE at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are presented. The ratios of the p(T)-integrated yields of (anti-)He-3 and (anti-)H-3 to the proton yields are reported, as well as the pT dependence of the coalescence parameters B-3 for (anti-)He-3 and (anti-)H-3. For (anti-)He-3, the results obtained in four classes of the mean charged-particle multiplicity density are also discussed. These results are compared to predictions from a canonical statistical hadronization model and coalescence approaches. An upper limit on the total yield of (4)(He) over bar is determined

Event-by-event mean pT \ua0fluctuations in pp and Pb\u2013Pb collisions at the LHC

Event-by-event fluctuations of the mean transverse momentum of charged particles produced in pp collisions at 1as = 0.9, 2.76 and 7 TeV, and Pb\u2013Pb collisions at 1asNN = 2.76 TeV are studied as a function of the charged-particle multiplicity using the ALICE detector at the LHC. Dynamical fluctuations indicative of correlated particle emis- sion are observed in all systems. The results in pp collisions show little dependence on collision energy. The Monte Carlo event generators PYTHIA and PHOJET are in qualitative agreement with the data. Peripheral Pb\u2013Pb data exhibit a similar multiplicity dependence as that observed in pp. In central Pb\u2013Pb, the results deviate from this trend, featuring a significant reduction of the fluctuation strength. The results in Pb\u2013 Pb are in qualitative agreement with previous measurements in Au\u2013Au at lower collision energies and with expectations from models that incorporate collective phenomena

Neutral pion production at midrapidity in pp and Pb\u2013Pb collisions at 1asNN = 2.76 TeV

Invariant yields of neutral pions at midrapidity in the transverse momentum range 0.6 < pT < 12 GeV/c measured in Pb\u2013Pb collisions at 1asNN = 2.76 TeV are presented for six centrality classes. The pp reference spectrum was measured in the range 0.4 < pT < 10 GeV/c at the same center-of-mass energy. The nuclear modification factor, RAA , shows a suppression of neutral pions in central Pb\u2013Pb collisions by a factor of up to about 8 1210 for 5 pT 7GeV/c. The presented measurements are compared with results at lower center-of-mass energies and with theoretical calculations