The production cross sections of the prompt charmed mesons ${\rm D^0}$, ${\rm D^+}$, ${\rm D^{*+}}$ and ${\rm D_s^+}$ were measured at mid-rapidity in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass ...energy $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV with the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). D mesons were reconstructed from their decays ${\rm D}^0 \to {\rm K}^-\pi^+$, ${\rm D}^+\to {\rm K}^-\pi^+\pi^+$, ${\rm D}^{*+} \to {\rm D}^0 \pi^+$, ${\rm D_s^{+}\to \phi\pi^+\to K^-K^+\pi^+}$, and their charge conjugates. With respect to previous measurements in the same rapidity region, the coverage in transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) is extended and the uncertainties are reduced by a factor of about two. The accuracy on the estimated total $\rm c\overline c$ production cross section is likewise improved. The measured $p_{\rm T}$-differential cross sections are compared with the results of three perturbative QCD calculations.
Proton distributions at midrapidity have been measured for 158A·GeV Pb+Pb collisions in the focusing spectrometer experiment NA44 at CERN. A high degree of nuclear stopping is found in the truly ...heavy ion collisions. Systematic results of single particle transverse momentum distributions of pions, kaons, and protons, of 200A·GeV S+S and 158A·GeV Pb+Pb central collisions will be addressed within the context of thermalization. By comparing these data with thermal and transport models, freeze-out parameters such as the temperature parameter
T
fo
and mean collective flow velocity 〈β〉 are extracted. Preliminary results of the particle ratios of
K
−
K
+
and
p
p
are discussed in the context of cascade models of RQMD and VENUS.
The production of beauty hadrons was measured via semi-leptonic decays at mid-rapidity with the ALICE detector at the LHC in the transverse momentum interval $1<p_{\rm T}<8$ GeV/$c$ in minimum-bias ...p-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=5.02$ TeV and in $1.3<p_{\rm T}<8$ GeV/$c$ in the 20% most central Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=2.76$ TeV. The pp reference spectra at $\sqrt{s}=5.02$ TeV and $\sqrt{s}=2.76$ TeV, needed for the calculation of the nuclear modification factors $R_{\rm pPb}$ and $R_{\rm PbPb}$, were obtained by a pQCD-driven scaling of the cross section of electrons from beauty-hadron decays measured at $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV. The $R_{\rm PbPb}$ is about 0.7 with an uncertainty of about 30% in the interval $3<p_{\rm T}<6$ GeV/$c$ and 0.47 with an uncertainty of 25% in $6<p_{\rm T}<8$ GeV/$c$ in Pb-Pb collisions. Below $p_{\rm T}=3$ GeV/$c$, the $R_{\rm PbPb}$ values increase with decreasing transverse momentum with systematic uncertainties of 30-45%. The $R_{\rm pPb}$ is consistent with unity within systematic uncertainties of about 20% at high $p_{\rm T}$, increasing at low $p_{\rm T}$, and is well described by theoretical calculations that include cold nuclear matter effects in p-Pb collisions. The measured $R_{\rm pPb}$ and these calculations indicate that cold nuclear matter effects are small at high transverse momentum also in Pb-Pb collisions. Therefore, the observed reduction of $R_{\rm PbPb}$ below unity for high $p_{\rm T}$ can be ascribed to an effect of the hot and dense medium formed in Pb-Pb collisions.
The pseudorapidity density of charged particles ($\mathrm{d}N_\mathrm{ch}/\mathrm{d}\eta$) at mid-rapidity in Pb-Pb collisions has been measured at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of ...$\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV. It increases with centrality and reaches a value of $1943 \pm 54$ in $|\eta|<0.5$ for the 5% most central collisions. A rise in $\mathrm{d}N_\mathrm{ch}/\mathrm{d}\eta$ as a function of $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ for the most central collisions is observed, steeper than that observed in proton-proton collisions and following the trend established by measurements at lower energy. The centrality dependence of $\mathrm{d}N_\mathrm{ch}/\mathrm{d}\eta$ as a function of the average number of participant nucleons, ${\langle N_\mathrm{part} \rangle}$, calculated in a Glauber model, is compared with the previous measurement at lower energy. A constant factor of about 1.2 describes the increase in $\frac{2}{\langle N_\mathrm{part} \rangle}\langle \mathrm{d}N_\mathrm{ch}/\mathrm{d}\eta \rangle$ from $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 2.76 TeV to $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV for all centrality intervals, within the measured range of 0-80% centrality. The results are also compared to models based on different mechanisms for particle production in nuclear collisions.
The multi-strange baryon yields in Pb--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, ${p_{\rm T}}$, in p-Pb collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of ${\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}}$ = 5.02 TeV. The results cover the kinematic ranges 0.6 GeV/$c<{p_{\rm T}} <$7.2 GeV/$c$ and 0.8 GeV/$c<{p_{\rm T}}<$ 5 GeV/$c$, for $\Xi$ and $\Omega$ respectively, in the common rapidity interval -0.5 $<{y_{\rm CMS}}<$ 0. Multi-strange baryons have been identified by reconstructing their weak decays into charged particles. The ${p_{\rm T}}$ spectra are analysed as a function of event charged-particle multiplicity, which in p-Pb collisions ranges over one order of magnitude and lies between those observed in pp and Pb-Pb collisions. The measured ${p_{\rm T}}$ 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 p-Pb. The yield of hyperons relative to charged pions is studied and compared with results from pp and Pb-Pb collisions. A statistical model is employed, which describes the change in the ratios with volume using a canonical suppression mechanism, in which the small volume causes a species-dependent relative reduction of hadron production. The calculations, in which the magnitude of the effect depends on the strangeness content, show good qualitative agreement with the data.
The production of charged pions, kaons and (anti)protons has been measured at mid-rapidity ($-0.5 < y < 0$) in p-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 5.02$ TeV using the ALICE detector at the LHC. ...Exploiting particle identification capabilities at high transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$), the previously published $p_{\rm T}$ spectra have been extended to include measurements up to 20 GeV/$c$ for seven multiplicity event classes. The $p_{\rm T}$ spectra for pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV, needed to interpolate a pp reference spectrum, have also been extended up to 20 GeV/$c$ to measure the nuclear modification factor ($R_{\rm pPb}$) in non-single diffractive p-Pb collisions. At intermediate transverse momentum ($2 < p_{\rm T} < 10$ GeV/$c$) the proton-to-pion ratio increases with multiplicity in p-Pb collisions, a similar effect is not present in the kaon-to-pion ratio. The $p_{\rm T}$ dependent structure of such increase is qualitatively similar to those observed in pp and heavy-ion collisions. At high $p_{\rm T}$ ($>10$ GeV/$c$), the particle ratios are consistent with those reported for pp and Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC energies. At intermediate $p_{\rm T}$ the (anti)proton $R_{\rm pPb}$ shows a Cronin-like enhancement, while pions and kaons show little or no nuclear modification. At high $p_{\rm T}$ the charged pion, kaon and (anti)proton $R_{\rm pPb}$ are consistent with unity within statistical and systematic uncertainties.
Three- and four-pion Bose-Einstein correlations are presented in pp, p-Pb, and Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC. We compare our measured four-pion correlations to the expectation derived from two- and ...three-pion measurements. Such a comparison provides a method to search for coherent pion emission. We also present mixed-charge correlations in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of several analysis procedures such as Coulomb corrections. Same-charge four-pion correlations in pp and p-Pb appear consistent with the expectations from three-pion measurements. However, the presence of non-negligible background correlations in both systems prevent a conclusive statement. In Pb-Pb collisions, we observe a significant suppression of three- and four-pion Bose-Einstein correlations compared to expectations from two-pion measurements. There appears to be no centrality dependence of the suppression within the 0-50% centrality interval. The origin of the suppression is not clear. However, by postulating either coherent pion emission or large multibody Coulomb effects, the suppression may be explained.
The elliptic flow of electrons from heavy-flavour hadron decays at mid-rapidity ($|y|$ $<$ 0.7) is measured in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76$ TeV with ALICE at the LHC. The particle ...azimuthal distribution with respect to the reaction plane can be parametrized with a Fourier expansion, where the second coefficient ($v_{\rm 2}$) represents the elliptic flow. The $v_{\rm 2}$ coefficient of inclusive electrons is measured in three centrality classes (0-10%, 10-20% and 20-40%) with the event plane and the scalar product methods in the transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) intervals 0.5-13 GeV/$c$ and 0.5-8 GeV/$c$, respectively. After subtracting the background, mainly from photon conversions and Dalitz decays of neutral mesons, a positive $v_{\rm 2}$ of electrons from heavy-flavour hadron decays is observed in all centrality classes, with a maximum significance of $5.9\sigma$ in the interval $2 <$ $p_{\rm T}$ $<$ 2.5 GeV/$c$ in semi-central collisions (20-40%). The value of $v_{\rm 2}$ decreases towards more central collisions at low and intermediate $p_{\rm T}$ (0.5 $<$ $p_{\rm T}$ $<$ 3 GeV/$c$). The $v_{\rm 2}$ of electrons from heavy-flavour hadron decays at mid-rapidity is found to be similar to the one of muons from heavy-flavour hadron decays at forward rapidity (2.5 $<$ $y$ $<$ 4). The results are described within uncertainties by model calculations including substantial elastic interactions of heavy quarks with an expanding strongly-interacting medium.
A measurement of dijet correlations in p-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=5.02$ TeV with the ALICE detector is presented. Jets are reconstructed from charged particles measured in the central ...tracking detectors and neutral energy deposited in the electromagnetic calorimeter. The transverse momentum of the full jet (clustered from charged and neutral constituents) and charged jet (clustered from charged particles only) is corrected event-by-event for the contribution of the underlying event, while corrections for underlying event fluctuations and finite detector resolution are applied on an inclusive basis. A projection of the dijet transverse momentum, $k_{\rm Ty} = p_\rm{T,jet}^\rm{ch+ne} \; \rm{sin}(\Delta\varphi_{\rm{dijet}})$ with $\Delta\varphi_{\rm{dijet}}$ the azimuthal angle between a full and charged jet and $p_\rm{T,jet}^\rm{ch+ne}$ the transverse momentum of the full jet, is used to study nuclear matter effects in p-Pb collisions. This observable is sensitive to the acoplanarity of dijet production and its potential modification in p-Pb collisions with respect to pp collisions. Measurements of the dijet $k_{\rm Ty}$ as a function of the transverse momentum of the full and recoil charged jet, and the event multiplicity are presented. No significant modification of $k_{\rm Ty}$ due to nuclear matter effects in p-Pb collisions with respect to the event multiplicity or a PYTHIA8 reference is observed.
Prompt D meson and non-prompt J/$\psi$ yields are studied as a function of the multiplicity of charged particles produced in inelastic proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of ...$\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV. The results are reported as a ratio between yields in a given multiplicity interval normalised to the multiplicity-integrated ones (relative yields). They are shown as a function of the multiplicity of charged particles normalised to the average value for inelastic collisions (relative charged-particle multiplicity). D$^0$, D$^+$ and D$^{*+}$ mesons are measured in five $p_{\rm T}$ intervals from 1 to 20 GeV/$c$ and for $|y|<0.5$ via their hadronic decays. The D-meson relative yield is found to increase with increasing charged-particle multiplicity. For events with multiplicity six times higher than the average multiplicity of inelastic collisions, a yield enhancement of a factor about 15 relative to the multiplicity-integrated yield in inelastic collisions is observed. The yield enhancement is independent of transverse momentum within the uncertainties of the measurement. The D$^0$-meson relative yield is also measured as a function of the relative multiplicity at forward pseudorapidity. The non-prompt J/$\psi$, i.e. the B hadron, contribution to the inclusive J/$\psi$ production is measured in the di-electron decay channel at central rapidity. It is evaluated for $p_{\rm T}>1.3$ GeV/$c$ and $|y|<0.9$, and extrapolated to $p_{\rm T}>0$. The fraction of non-prompt J/$\psi$ in the inclusive J/$\psi$ yields shows no dependence on the charged-particle multiplicity at central rapidity. Charm and beauty hadron relative yields exhibit a similar increase with increasing charged-particle multiplicity. The measurements are compared to PYTHIA 8, EPOS 3 and percolation calculations.
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