The design, construction, and commissioning of the ALICE Time-Projection Chamber (TPC) is described. It is the main device for pattern recognition, tracking, and identification of charged particles ...in the ALICE experiment at the CERN LHC. The TPC is cylindrical in shape with a volume close to 90m3 and is operated in a 0.5T solenoidal magnetic field parallel to its axis.
In this paper we describe in detail the design considerations for this detector for operation in the extreme multiplicity environment of central Pb–Pb collisions at LHC energy. The implementation of the resulting requirements into hardware (field cage, read-out chambers, electronics), infrastructure (gas and cooling system, laser-calibration system), and software led to many technical innovations which are described along with a presentation of all the major components of the detector, as currently realized. We also report on the performance achieved after completion of the first round of stand-alone calibration runs and demonstrate results close to those specified in the TPC Technical Design Report.
This Letter presents the first experimental observation of the attractive strong interaction between a proton and a multistrange baryon (hyperon) Ξ−. The result is extracted from two-particle ...correlations of combined p−Ξ−⊕p¯−Ξ¯+ pairs measured in p−Pb collisions at sNN=5.02 TeV at the LHC with ALICE. The measured correlation function is compared with the prediction obtained assuming only an attractive Coulomb interaction and a standard deviation in the range 3.6, 5.3 is found. Since the measured p−Ξ−⊕p¯−Ξ¯+ correlation is significantly enhanced with respect to the Coulomb prediction, the presence of an additional, strong, attractive interaction is evident. The data are compatible with recent lattice calculations by the HAL-QCD Collaboration, with a standard deviation in the range 1.8, 3.7. The lattice potential predicts a shallow repulsive Ξ− interaction within pure neutron matter and this implies stiffer equations of state for neutron-rich matter including hyperons. Implications of the strong interaction for the modeling of neutron stars are discussed.
Direct photon production at mid-rapidity in Pb–Pb collisions at sNN=2.76 TeV was studied in the transverse momentum range 0.9<pT<14 GeV/c. Photons were detected with the highly segmented ...electromagnetic calorimeter PHOS and via conversions in the ALICE detector material with the e+e− pair reconstructed in the central tracking system. The results of the two methods were combined and direct photon spectra were measured for the 0–20%, 20–40%, and 40–80% centrality classes. For all three classes, agreement was found with perturbative QCD calculations for pT≳5 GeV/c. Direct photon spectra down to pT≈1 GeV/c could be extracted for the 20–40% and 0–20% centrality classes. The significance of the direct photon signal for 0.9<pT<2.1 GeV/c is 2.6σ for the 0–20% class. The spectrum in this pT range and centrality class can be described by an exponential with an inverse slope parameter of (297±12stat±41syst) MeV. State-of-the-art models for photon production in heavy-ion collisions agree with the data within uncertainties.
The first measurements of anisotropic flow coefficients vn for mid-rapidity charged particles in Xe–Xe collisions at sNN=5.44 TeV are presented. Comparing these measurements to those from Pb–Pb ...collisions at sNN=5.02 TeV, v2 is found to be suppressed for mid-central collisions at the same centrality, and enhanced for central collisions. The values of v3 are generally larger in Xe–Xe than in Pb–Pb at a given centrality. These observations are consistent with expectations from hydrodynamic predictions. When both v2 and v3 are divided by their corresponding eccentricities for a variety of initial state models, they generally scale with transverse density when comparing Xe–Xe and Pb–Pb, with some deviations observed in central Xe–Xe and Pb–Pb collisions. These results assist in placing strong constraints on both the initial state geometry and medium response for relativistic heavy-ion collisions.
Transverse momentum (pT ) spectra of charged particles at mid-pseudorapidity in Xe–Xe collisions at sNN=5.44TeV measured with the ALICE apparatus at the Large Hadron Collider are reported. The ...kinematic range 0.15<pT<50GeV/c and |η|<0.8 is covered. Results are presented in nine classes of collision centrality in the 0–80% range. For comparison, a pp reference at the collision energy of s=5.44 TeV is obtained by interpolating between existing pp measurements at s=5.02 and 7 TeV. The nuclear modification factors in central Xe–Xe collisions and Pb–Pb collisions at a similar center-of-mass energy of sNN=5.02 TeV, and in addition at 2.76 TeV, at analogous ranges of charged particle multiplicity density 〈dNch/dη〉 show a remarkable similarity at pT>10GeV/c. The centrality dependence of the ratio of the average transverse momentum 〈pT〉 in Xe–Xe collisions over Pb–Pb collision at s=5.02 TeV is compared to hydrodynamical model calculations.
The inclusive J/ψ production has been studied in Pb–Pb and pp collisions at the centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair sNN=5.02 TeV, using the ALICE detector at the CERN LHC. The J/ψ meson is ...reconstructed, in the centre-of-mass rapidity interval 2.5<y<4 and in the transverse-momentum range pT<12 GeV/c, via its decay to a muon pair. In this Letter, we present results on the inclusive J/ψ cross section in pp collisions at s=5.02 TeV and on the nuclear modification factor RAA. The latter is presented as a function of the centrality of the collision and, for central collisions, as a function of the transverse momentum pT of the J/ψ. The measured RAA values indicate a suppression of the J/ψ in nuclear collisions and are then compared to our previous results obtained in Pb–Pb collisions at sNN=2.76 TeV. The ratio of the RAA values at the two energies is also computed and compared to calculations of statistical and dynamical models. The numerical value of the ratio for central events (0–10% centrality) is 1.17±0.04(stat)±0.20(syst). In central events, as a function of pT, a slight increase of RAA with collision energy is visible in the region 2<pT<6 GeV/c. Theoretical calculations qualitatively describe the measurements, within uncertainties.
The multi-strange baryon yields in Pbsingle bond Pb collisions have been shown to exhibit an enhancement relative to pp reactions. In this work, Xi and Omega production rates have been measured with ...the ALICE experiment as a function of transverse momentum, p sub(T)pT, in psingle bond Pb collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of View the MathML source sNN=5.02 TeV. The results cover the kinematic ranges 0.6 GeV/c<p sub(T)<7.2 GeV/c0.6 GeV/c<pT<7.2 GeV/c and 0.8 GeV/c<p sub(T)<5 GeV/c0.8 GeV/c<pT<5 GeV/c, for Xi and Omega respectively, in the common rapidity interval -0.5<y sub(CMS)<0-0.5<yCMS<0. Multi-strange baryons have been identified by reconstructing their weak decays into charged particles. The p sub(T)pT spectra are analysed as a function of event charged-particle multiplicity, which in psingle bond Pb collisions ranges over one order of magnitude and lies between those observed in pp and Pbsingle bond Pb collisions. The measured p sub(T)pT distributions are compared to the expectations from a Blast-Wave model. The parameters which describe the production of lighter hadron species also describe the hyperon spectra in high multiplicity psingle bond Pb collisions. The yield of hyperons relative to charged pions is studied and compared with results from pp and Pbsingle bond Pb collisions. A continuous increase in the yield ratios as a function of multiplicity is observed in psingle bond Pb data, the values of which range from those measured in minimum bias pp to the ones in Pbsingle bond Pb collisions. A statistical model qualitatively describes this multiplicity dependence using a canonical suppression mechanism, in which the small volume causes a relative reduction of hadron production dependent on the strangeness content of the hyperon.
In this Letter, the ALICE Collaboration presents the first measurements of the charged-particle multiplicity density, dNch/dη, and total charged-particle multiplicity, Nchtot, in Xe–Xe collisions at ...a centre-of-mass energy per nucleon–nucleon pair of sNN=5.44TeV. The measurements are performed as a function of collision centrality over a wide pseudorapidity range of −3.5<η<5. The values of dNch/dη at mid-rapidity and Nchtot for central collisions, normalised to the number of nucleons participating in the collision (Npart) as a function of sNN follow the trends established in previous heavy-ion measurements. The same quantities are also found to increase as a function of Npart, and up to the 5% most central collisions the trends are the same as the ones observed in Pb–Pb at a similar energy. For more central collisions, the Xe–Xe scaled multiplicities exceed those in Pb–Pb for a similar Npart. The results are compared to phenomenological models and theoretical calculations based on different mechanisms for particle production in nuclear collisions. All considered models describe the data reasonably well within 15%.