Midrapidity production of π±, K±, and (¯p)p measured by the ALICE experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider, in Pb-Pb and inelastic pp collisions at √sNN=5.02 TeV, is presented. The invariant ...yields are measured over a wide transverse momentum (pT) range from hundreds of MeV/c up to 20 GeV/c. The results in Pb-Pb collisions are presented as a function of the collision centrality, in the range 0–90%. The comparison of the pT-integrated particle ratios, i.e., proton-to-pion (p/π) and kaon-to-pion (K/π) ratios, with similar measurements in Pb-Pb collisions at √sNN=2.76 TeV show no significant energy dependence. Blast-wave fits of the pT spectra indicate that in the most central collisions radial flow is slightly larger at 5.02 TeV with respect to 2.76 TeV. Particle ratios (p/π, K/π) as a function of pT show pronounced maxima at pT≈3GeV/c in central Pb-Pb collisions. At high pT, particle ratios at 5.02 TeV are similar to those measured in pp collisions at the same energy and in Pb-Pb collisions at √sNN=2.76 TeV. Using the pp reference spectra measured at the same collision energy of 5.02 TeV, the nuclear modification factors for the different particle species are derived. Within uncertainties, the nuclear modification factor is particle species independent for high pT and compatible with measurements at √sNN=2.76 TeV. The results are compared to state-of-the-art model calculations, which are found to describe the observed trends satisfactorily.
This article reports measurements of the pT-differential inclusive jet cross section in pp collisions at s=5.02TeV and the pT-differential inclusive jet yield in Pb-Pb 0-10% central collisions at ...sNN=5.02TeV. Jets were reconstructed at midrapidity with the ALICE tracking detectors and electromagnetic calorimeter using the anti-kT algorithm. For pp collisions, we report jet cross sections for jet resolution parameters R=0.1-0.6 over the range 20<pT,jet<140 GeV/c, as well as the jet cross-section ratios of different R and comparisons to two next-to-leading-order (NLO)-based theoretical predictions. For Pb-Pb collisions, we report the R=0.2 and R=0.4 jet spectra for 40<pT,jet<140 GeV/c and 60<pT,jet<140 GeV/c, respectively. The scaled ratio of jet yields observed in Pb-Pb to pp collisions, RAA, is constructed, and exhibits strong jet quenching and a clear pT dependence for R=0.2. No significant R dependence of the jet RAA is observed within the uncertainties of the measurement. These results are compared to several theoretical predictions.
The prompt production of the charm baryon Λ+c and the Λ+c/D0 production ratios were measured at midrapidity with the ALICE detector in pp and p-Pb collisions at √sNN=5.02 TeV. These new measurements ...show a clear decrease of the Λ+c/D0 ratio with increasing transverse momentum (pT) in both collision systems in the range 2<pT<12 GeV/c, exhibiting similarities with the light-flavor baryon-to-meson ratios p/π and Λ/K0S. At low pT, predictions that include additional color-reconnection mechanisms beyond the leading-color approximation, assume the existence of additional higher-mass charm-baryon states, or include hadronization via coalescence can describe the data, while predictions driven by charm-quark fragmentation processes measured in e+e− and e−p collisions significantly underestimate the data. The results presented in this Letter provide significant evidence that the established assumption of universality (colliding-system independence) of parton-to-hadron fragmentation is not sufficient to describe charm-baryon production in hadronic collisions at LHC energies.
This article presents groomed jet substructure measurements in pp and Pb−Pb collisions at √sNN=5.02 TeV with the ALICE detector. The soft drop grooming algorithm provides access to the hard parton ...splittings inside a jet by removing soft wide-angle radiation. We report the groomed jet momentum splitting fraction, zg, and the (scaled) groomed jet radius, θg. Charged-particle jets are reconstructed at midrapidity using the anti-kT algorithm with resolution parameters R=0.2 and R=0.4. In heavy-ion collisions, the large underlying event poses a challenge for the reconstruction of groomed jet observables, since fluctuations in the background can cause groomed parton splittings to be misidentified. By using strong grooming conditions to reduce this background, we report these observables fully corrected for detector effects and background fluctuations for the first time. A narrowing of the θg distribution in Pb−Pb collisions compared to pp collisions is seen, which provides direct evidence of the modification of the angular structure of jets in the quark-gluon plasma. No significant modification of the zg distribution in Pb−Pb collisions compared to pp collisions is observed. These results are compared with a variety of theoretical models of jet quenching, and provide constraints on jet energy-loss mechanisms and coherence effects in the quark-gluon plasma.
In particle collider experiments, elementary particle interactions with large momentum transfer produce quarks and gluons (known as partons) whose evolution is governed by the strong force, as ...described by the theory of quantum chromodynamics (QCD)
. These partons subsequently emit further partons in a process that can be described as a parton shower
, which culminates in the formation of detectable hadrons. Studying the pattern of the parton shower is one of the key experimental tools for testing QCD. This pattern is expected to depend on the mass of the initiating parton, through a phenomenon known as the dead-cone effect, which predicts a suppression of the gluon spectrum emitted by a heavy quark of mass m
and energy E, within a cone of angular size m
/E around the emitter
. Previously, a direct observation of the dead-cone effect in QCD had not been possible, owing to the challenge of reconstructing the cascading quarks and gluons from the experimentally accessible hadrons. We report the direct observation of the QCD dead cone by using new iterative declustering techniques
to reconstruct the parton shower of charm quarks. This result confirms a fundamental feature of QCD. Furthermore, the measurement of a dead-cone angle constitutes a direct experimental observation of the non-zero mass of the charm quark, which is a fundamental constant in the standard model of particle physics.
The production cross section of prompt Λc+ charm baryons was measured with the ALICE detector at the LHC at midrapidity in proton-proton (pp) and proton-lead (p-Pb) collisions at a center-of-mass ...energy per nucleon pair of sNN=5.02TeV. The Λc+ and Λ¯c- baryons were reconstructed in the hadronic decay channels Λc+→pK-π+ and Λc+→pKS0 and respective charge conjugates. The measured differential cross sections as a function of transverse momentum (pT) and the pT-integrated Λc+ production cross section in pp and in p-Pb collisions are presented. The Λc+ nuclear modification factor (RpPb), calculated from the cross sections in pp and in p-Pb collisions, is presented and compared with the RpPb of D mesons. The Λc+/D0 ratio is also presented and compared with the light-flavor baryon-to-meson ratios p/π and Λ/KS0, and measurements from other LHC experiments. The results are compared to predictions from model calculations and Monte Carlo event generators.
The polarization of the Λ and ¯Λ hyperons along the beam (z) direction, Pz, has been measured in Pb-Pb collisions at √sNN=5.02 TeV recorded with ALICE at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The main ...contribution to Pz comes from elliptic flow-induced vorticity and can be characterized by the second Fourier sine coefficient Pz,s2=⟨Pzsin(2φ−2Ψ2)⟩, where φ is the hyperon azimuthal emission angle and Ψ2 is the elliptic flow plane angle. We report the measurement of Pz,s2 for different collision centralities and in the 30%–50% centrality interval as a function of the hyperon transverse momentum and rapidity. The Pz,s2 is positive similarly as measured by the STAR Collaboration in Au-Au collisions at √sNN=200 GeV, with somewhat smaller amplitude in the semicentral collisions. This is the first experimental evidence of a nonzero hyperon Pz in Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC. The comparison of the measured Pz,s2 with the hydrodynamic model calculations shows sensitivity to the competing contributions from thermal and the recently found shear-induced vorticity, as well as to whether the polarization is acquired at the quark-gluon plasma or the hadronic phase.
The study of nuclei and antinuclei production has proven to be a powerful tool to investigate the formation mechanism of loosely bound states in high-energy hadronic collisions. The first measurement ...of the production of HΛ3 in p-Pb collisions at sNN=5.02 TeV is presented in this Letter. Its production yield measured in the rapidity interval -1
The production of K∗(892)0 and ϕ(1020) mesons in proton–proton (pp) and lead–lead (Pb–Pb) collisions at √sNN = 5.02 TeV has been measured using the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). ...The transverse momentum (pT) distributions of K∗(892)0 and ϕ(1020) mesons have been measured at midrapidity (|y|<0.5) up to pT= 20 GeV/c in inelastic pp collisions and for several Pb–Pb collision centralities. The collision centrality and collision energy dependence of the average transverse momenta agree with the radial flow scenario observed with stable hadrons, showing that the effect is stronger for more central collisions and higher collision energies. The K*0/K ratio is found to be suppressed in Pb–Pb collisions relative to pp collisions: this indicates a loss of the measured K∗(892)0 signal due to rescattering of its decay products in the hadronic phase. In contrast, for the longer-lived ϕ(1020) mesons, no such suppression is observed. The nuclear modification factors (RAA) of K∗(892)0 and ϕ(1020) mesons are calculated using pp reference spectra at the same collision energy. In central Pb–Pb collisions for pT > 8 GeV/c, the RAA values of K∗(892)0 and ϕ(1020) are below unity and observed to be similar to those of pions, kaons, and (anti)protons. The RAA values at high pT (>8 GeV/c) for K∗(892)0 and ϕ(1020) mesons are in agreement within uncertainties for √sNN= 5.02 and 2.76 TeV.
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