This Letter presents the first direct investigation of the p–Σ0 interaction, using the femtoscopy technique in high-multiplicity pp collisions at s=13 TeV measured by the ALICE detector. The Σ0 is ...reconstructed via the decay channel to Λγ, and the subsequent decay of Λ to pπ−. The photon is detected via the conversion in material to e+e− pairs exploiting the capability of the ALICE detector to measure electrons at low transverse momenta. The measured p–Σ0 correlation indicates a shallow strong interaction. The comparison of the data to several theoretical predictions obtained employing the Correlation Analysis Tool using the Schrödinger Equation (CATS) and the Lednický–Lyuboshits approach shows that the current experimental precision does not yet allow to discriminate between different models, as it is the case for the available scattering and hypernuclei data. Nevertheless, the p–Σ0 correlation function is found to be sensitive to the strong interaction, and driven by the interplay of the different spin and isospin channels. This pioneering study demonstrates the feasibility of a femtoscopic measurement in the p–Σ0 channel and with the expected larger data samples in LHC Run 3 and Run 4, the p–Σ0 interaction will be constrained with high precision.
We report on the production of inclusive ϒ(1S) and ϒ(2S) in p–Pb collisions at sNN=5.02 TeV at the LHC. The measurement is performed with the ALICE detector at backward (−4.46<ycms<−2.96) and forward ...(2.03<ycms<3.53) rapidity down to zero transverse momentum. The production cross sections of the ϒ(1S) and ϒ(2S) are presented, as well as the nuclear modification factor and the ratio of the forward to backward yields of ϒ(1S). A suppression of the inclusive ϒ(1S) yield in p–Pb collisions with respect to the yield from pp collisions scaled by the number of binary nucleon–nucleon 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.
The production of prompt Λc+ baryons at midrapidity (|y|<0.5) was measured in central (0–10%) and mid-central (30–50%) Pb–Pb collisions at the center-of-mass energy per nucleon–nucleon pair sNN=5.02 ...TeV with the ALICE detector. The results are more precise, more differential in centrality, and reach much lower transverse momentum (pT=1 GeV/c) with respect to previous measurements performed by the ALICE, STAR, and CMS Collaborations in nucleus–nucleus collisions, allowing for an extrapolation down to pT=0. The pT-differential Λc+/D0 ratio is enhanced with respect to the pp measurement for 4<pT<8 GeV/c by 3.7 standard deviations (σ), while the pT-integrated ratios are compatible within 1σ. The observed trend is similar to that observed in the strange sector for the Λ/KS0 ratio. Model calculations including coalescence or statistical hadronization for charm-hadron formation are compared with the data.
Charged jet production cross sections in p–Pb collisions at sNN=5.02 TeV measured with the ALICE detector at the LHC are presented. Using the anti-kT algorithm, jets have been reconstructed in the ...central rapidity region from charged particles with resolution parameters R=0.2 and R=0.4. The reconstructed jets have been corrected for detector effects and the underlying event background. To calculate the nuclear modification factor, RpPb, of charged jets in p–Pb collisions, a pp reference was constructed by scaling previously measured charged jet spectra at s=7 TeV. In the transverse momentum range 20≤pT,chjet≤120 GeV/c, RpPb is found to be consistent with unity, indicating the absence of strong nuclear matter effects on jet production. Major modifications to the radial jet structure are probed via the ratio of jet production cross sections reconstructed with the two different resolution parameters. This ratio is found to be similar to the measurement in pp collisions at s=7 TeV and to the expectations from PYTHIA pp simulations and NLO pQCD calculations at sNN=5.02 TeV.
Two-particle angular correlations between trigger particles in the forward pseudorapidity range (2.5<|η|<4.0) and associated particles in the central range (|η|<1.0) are measured with the ALICE ...detector in p–Pb collisions at a nucleon–nucleon centre-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV. The trigger particles are reconstructed using the muon spectrometer, and the associated particles by the central barrel tracking detectors. In high-multiplicity events, the double-ridge structure, previously discovered in two-particle angular correlations at midrapidity, is found to persist to the pseudorapidity ranges studied in this Letter. The second-order Fourier coefficients for muons in high-multiplicity events are extracted after jet-like correlations from low-multiplicity events have been subtracted. The coefficients are found to have a similar transverse momentum (pT) dependence in p-going (p–Pb) and Pb-going (Pb–p) configurations, with the Pb-going coefficients larger by about 16±6%, rather independent of pT within the uncertainties of the measurement. The data are compared with calculations using the AMPT model, which predicts a different pT and η dependence than observed in the data. The results are sensitive to the parent particle v2 and composition of reconstructed muon tracks, where the contribution from heavy flavour decays is expected to dominate at pT>2 GeV/c.
We present measurements of the elliptic (v2), triangular (v3) and quadrangular (v4) anisotropic azimuthal flow over a wide range of pseudorapidities (−3.5<η<5). The measurements are performed with ...Pb–Pb collisions at sNN=2.76 TeV using the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The flow harmonics are obtained using two- and four-particle correlations from nine different centrality intervals covering central to peripheral collisions. We find that the shape of vn(η) is largely independent of centrality for the flow harmonics n=2–4, however the higher harmonics fall off more steeply with increasing |η|. We assess the validity of extended longitudinal scaling of v2 by comparing to lower energy measurements, and find that the higher harmonic flow coefficients are proportional to the charged particle densities at larger pseudorapidities. Finally, we compare our measurements to both hydrodynamical and transport models, and find they both have challenges when it comes to describing our data.
An excess of J/ψ yield at very low transverse momentum (pT<0.3 GeV/c), originating from coherent photoproduction, is observed in peripheral and semicentral hadronic Pb–Pb collisions at a ...center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of sNN=5.02 TeV. The measurement is performed with the ALICE detector via the dimuon decay channel at forward rapidity (2.5<y<4). The nuclear modification factor at very low pT and the coherent photoproduction cross section are measured as a function of centrality down to the 10% most central collisions. These results extend the previous study at sNN=2.76 TeV, confirming the clear excess over hadronic production in the pT range 0−0.3 GeV/c and the centrality range 70–90%, and establishing an excess with a significance greater than 5σ also in the 50–70% and 30–50% centrality ranges. The results are compared with earlier measurements at sNN=2.76 TeV and with different theoretical predictions aiming at describing how coherent photoproduction occurs in hadronic interactions with nuclear overlap.
Electrons from heavy-flavour hadron decays (charm and beauty) were measured with the ALICE detector in Pb–Pb collisions at a centre-of-mass of energy sNN=2.76 TeV. The transverse momentum (pT) ...differential production yields at mid-rapidity were used to calculate the nuclear modification factor RAA in the interval 3<pT<18 GeV/c. The RAA shows a strong suppression compared to binary scaling of pp collisions at the same energy (up to a factor of 4) in the 10% most central Pb–Pb collisions. There is a centrality trend of suppression, and a weaker suppression (down to a factor of 2) in semi-peripheral (50–80%) collisions is observed. The suppression of electrons in this broad pT interval indicates that both charm and beauty quarks lose energy when they traverse the hot medium formed in Pb–Pb collisions at LHC.
The ALICE Collaboration at the LHC reports measurement of the inclusive production cross section of electrons from semi-leptonic decays of beauty hadrons with rapidity |y|<0.8 and transverse momentum ...1<pT<10 GeV/c, in pp collisions at s=2.76 TeV. Electrons not originating from semi-electronic decay of beauty hadrons are suppressed using the impact parameter of the corresponding tracks. The production cross section of beauty decay electrons is compared to the result obtained with an alternative method which uses the distribution of the azimuthal angle between heavy-flavour decay electrons and charged hadrons. Perturbative QCD predictions agree with the measured cross section within the experimental and theoretical uncertainties. The integrated visible cross section, σb→e=3.47±0.40(stat)−1.33+1.12(sys)±0.07(norm) μb, was extrapolated to full phase space using Fixed Order plus Next-to-Leading Log (FONLL) calculations to obtain the total bb¯ production cross section, σbb¯=130±15.1(stat)−49.8+42.1(sys)−3.1+3.4(extr)±2.5(norm)±4.4(BR) μb.
The striking similarities that have been observed between high-multiplicity proton-proton (pp) collisions and heavy-ion collisions can be explored through multiplicity-differential measurements of ...identified hadrons in pp collisions. With these measurements, it is possible to study mechanisms such as collective flow that determine the shapes of hadron transverse momentum (pT) spectra, to search for possible modifications of the yields of short-lived hadronic resonances due to scattering effects in an extended hadron-gas phase, and to investigate different explanations provided by phenomenological models for enhancement of strangeness production with increasing multiplicity. In this paper, these topics are addressed through measurements of the K⁎(892)0 and ϕ(1020) mesons at midrapidity in pp collisions at s= 13 TeV as a function of the charged-particle multiplicity. The results include the pT spectra, pT-integrated yields, mean transverse momenta, and the ratios of the yields of these resonances to those of longer-lived hadrons. Comparisons with results from other collision systems and energies, as well as predictions from phenomenological models, are also discussed.