A measurement of strange baryon and antibaryon production in Pb–Pb collisions has been carried out by the NA57 experiment at the CERN SPS, with 40 and 158 AGeV/c beam momentum. Results on Λ, Ξ and Ω ...hyperon yields at mid-rapidity in the most central 53% of Pb–Pb collisions at 40 AGeV/c are presented and compared with those obtained at higher energy, in the same collision centrality range.
The Λ and Ξ− yields per unit rapidity stay roughly constant while those of Ω−, Λ̄, Ξ̄+ and Ω̄+ increase when going to the higher SPS energy. Hyperon yields at the SPS are compared with those from the STAR experiment in sNN=130 GeV Au–Au collisions at RHIC.
K
S
0,
Λ,
Ξ,
Ω and negative particle yields and transverse mass spectra have been measured at central rapidity in Pb–Pb and p–Pb collisions at 158
A GeV/
c. Yields are studied as a function of the ...number of nucleons participating in the collision
N
part, which is estimated with the Glauber model. From p–Pb to Pb–Pb collisions the particle yields per participant increase substantially. The enhancement is more pronounced for multistrange particles, and exceeds an order of magnitude for the
Ω. For a number of participants,
N
part, greater than 100, however, all yields per participant appear to be constant.
The inclusive transverse momentum (pT) distributions of primary charged particles are measured in the pseudo-rapidity range |η|<0.8 as a function of event centrality in Pb–Pb collisions at ...sNN=2.76 TeV with ALICE at the LHC. The data are presented in the pT range 0.15<pT<50 GeV/c for nine centrality intervals from 70–80% to 0–5%. The results in Pb–Pb are presented in terms of the nuclear modification factor RAA using a pp reference spectrum measured at the same collision energy. We observe that the suppression of high-pT particles strongly depends on event centrality. The yield is most suppressed in central collisions (0–5%) with RAA≈0.13 at pT=6–7 GeV/c. Above pT=7 GeV/c, there is a significant rise in the nuclear modification factor, which reaches RAA≈0.4 for pT>30 GeV/c. In peripheral collisions (70–80%), only moderate suppression (RAA=0.6–0.7) and a weak pT dependence is observed. The measured nuclear modification factors are compared to other measurements and model calculations.
The ALICE Collaboration has made the first measurement at the LHC of J/ψ photoproduction in ultra-peripheral Pb–Pb collisions at sNN=2.76 TeV. The J/ψ is identified via its dimuon decay in the ...forward rapidity region with the muon spectrometer for events where the hadronic activity is required to be minimal. The analysis is based on an event sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 55 μb−1. The cross section for coherent J/ψ production in the rapidity interval −3.6<y<−2.6 is measured to be dσJ/ψcoh/dy=1.00±0.18(stat)−0.26+0.24(syst) mb. The result is compared to theoretical models for coherent J/ψ production and found to be in good agreement with those models which include nuclear gluon shadowing.
The inclusive charged particle transverse momentum distribution is measured in proton–proton collisions at s=900 GeV at the LHC using the ALICE detector. The measurement is performed in the central ...pseudorapidity region (|η|<0.8) over the transverse momentum range 0.15<pT<10 GeV/c. The correlation between transverse momentum and particle multiplicity is also studied. Results are presented for inelastic (INEL) and non-single-diffractive (NSD) events. The average transverse momentum for |η|<0.8 is 〈pT〉INEL=0.483±0.001 (stat.)±0.007 (syst.) GeV/c and 〈pT〉NSD=0.489±0.001 (stat.)±0.007 (syst.) GeV/c, respectively. The data exhibit a slightly larger 〈pT〉 than measurements in wider pseudorapidity intervals. The results are compared to simulations with the Monte Carlo event generators PYTHIA and PHOJET.
The pseudorapidity density and multiplicity distribution of charged particles produced in proton-proton collisions at the LHC, at a centre-of-mass energy {radical}s = 7 TeV, were measured in the ...central pseudorapidity region |{eta}| < 1. Comparisons are made with previous measurements at {radical} = 0.9 TeV and 2.36 TeV. At {radical}s = 7 TeV, for events with at least one charged particle in |{eta}| < 1, we obtain d N{sub ch}/d{eta} = 6.01 {+-} 0.01(stat.){sub -0.12}{sup +0.20}(syst.). This corresponds to an increase of 57.6% {+-} 0.4%(stat.){sub -1.8}{sup +3.6}%(syst.) relative to collisions at 0.9 TeV, significantly higher than calculations from commonly used models. The multiplicity distribution at 7 TeV is described fairly well by the negative binomial distribution.
A measurement of the multi-strange Ξ− and Ω− baryons and their antiparticles by the ALICE experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is presented for inelastic proton–proton collisions at a ...centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV. The transverse momentum (pT) distributions were studied at mid-rapidity (|y|<0.5) in the range of 0.6<pT<8.5 GeV/c for Ξ− and Ξ¯+ baryons, and in the range of 0.8<pT<5 GeV/c for Ω− and Ω¯+. Baryons and antibaryons were measured as separate particles and we find that the baryon to antibaryon ratio of both particle species is consistent with unity over the entire range of the measurement. The statistical precision of the current data has allowed us to measure a difference between the mean pT of Ξ− (Ξ¯+) and Ω− (Ω¯+). Particle yields, mean pT, and the spectra in the intermediate pT range are not well described by the PYTHIA Perugia 2011 tune Monte Carlo event generator, which has been tuned to reproduce the early LHC data. The discrepancy is largest for Ω− (Ω¯+). This PYTHIA tune approaches the pT spectra of Ξ− and Ξ¯+ baryons below pT<0.85 GeV/c and describes the Ξ− and Ξ¯+ spectra above pT>6.0 GeV/c. We also illustrate the difference between the experimental data and model by comparing the corresponding ratios of (Ω−+Ω¯+)/(Ξ−+Ξ¯+) as a function of transverse mass.