We report the transverse energy (ET) measured with ALICE at midrapidity in Pb-Pb collisions at sNN=2.76 TeV as a function of centrality. The transverse energy was measured using identified ...single-particle tracks. The measurement was cross checked using the electromagnetic calorimeters and the transverse momentum distributions of identified particles previously reported by ALICE. The results are compared to theoretical models as well as to results from other experiments. The mean ET per unit pseudorapidity (η), (dET/dη), in 0%-5% central collisions is 1737±6(stat.)±97(sys.) GeV. We find a similar centrality dependence of the shape of (dET/dη) as a function of the number of participating nucleons to that seen at lower energies. The growth in (dET/dη) at the LHC energies exceeds extrapolations of low-energy data. We observe a nearly linear scaling of (dET/dη) with the number of quark participants. With the canonical assumption of a 1 fm/c formation time, we estimate that the energy density in 0%-5% central Pb-Pb collisions at sNN=2.76 TeV is 12.3±1.0GeV/fm3 and that the energy density at the most central 80fm2 of the collision is at least 21.5±1.7GeV/fm3. This is roughly 2.3 times that observed in 0%-5% central Au-Au collisions at sNN=200 GeV.
The most precise measurements to date of the $^{3}_{Λ}$H lifetime τ and Λ separation energy BΛ are obtained using the data sample of Pb–Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV collected by ALICE ...at the LHC. The $^{3}_{Λ}$H is reconstructed via its charged two-body mesonic decay channel ($^{3}_{Λ}$H → 3He + π– and the charge-conjugate process). The measured values τ = 253 ± 11 (stat.) ± 6(syst.) ps and BΛ = 102 ± 63 (stat.) ± 67 (syst.) keV are compatible with predictions from effective field theories and confirm that the $^{3}_{Λ}$H structure is consistent with a weakly-bound system.
Recent pT-integrated cross-section measurements of the ground-state charm mesons and baryons, D0, D+, D+s, Λ+c, and Ξ0c, are used to evaluate the charm fragmentation fractions and production cross ...section per unit of rapidity at midrapidity (|y|<0.5), in pp collisions at √s=5.02 TeV at the LHC. The latter is dσc¯c/dy||y|<0.5=1165±44(stat)+134−101(syst) μb. These measurements were obtained for the first time in hadronic collisions at the LHC, including the charm baryon states, recently measured by ALICE at midrapidity. The charm fragmentation fractions differ significantly from the values measured in e+e− and ep collisions, providing evidence of the dependence of the parton-to-hadron fragmentation fractions on the collision system, indicating that the assumption of their universality is not supported by the measured cross sections. An increase of a factor of about 3.3 for the fragmentation fraction for the Λ+c with a significance of 5σ between the values obtained in pp collisions and those obtained in e+e− (ep) collisions is reported. The fragmentation fraction for the Ξ0c was obtained for the first time in any collision system. The measured fragmentation fractions were used to update the c¯c cross sections per unit of rapidity at |y|<0.5 at √s=2.76 and 7 TeV, which are about 40% higher than the previously published results. The data were compared with perturbative-QCD calculations and lie at the upper edge of the theoretical bands.
The centrality dependence of the charged-particle pseudorapidity density measured with ALICE in Pb–Pb collisions at sNN=2.76 TeV over a broad pseudorapidity range is presented. This Letter extends ...the previous results reported by ALICE to more peripheral collisions. No strong change of the overall shape of charged-particle pseudorapidity density distributions with centrality is observed, and when normalised to the number of participating nucleons in the collisions, the evolution over pseudorapidity with centrality is likewise small. The broad pseudorapidity range (−3.5<η<5) allows precise estimates of the total number of produced charged particles which we find to range from 162±22(syst.) to 17170±770(syst.) in 80–90% and 0–5% central collisions, respectively. The total charged-particle multiplicity is seen to approximately scale with the number of participating nucleons in the collision. This suggests that hard contributions to the charged-particle multiplicity are limited. The results are compared to models which describe dNch/dη at mid-rapidity in the most central Pb–Pb collisions and it is found that these models do not capture all features of the distributions.
Here, we report on results obtained with the event-shape engineering technique applied to Pb-Pb collisions at root √sNN = 2.76 TeV. By selecting events in the same centrality interval, but with very ...different average flow, different initial-state conditions can be studied. We find the effect of the event-shape selection on the elliptic flow coefficient v2 to be almost independent of transverse momentum pT, which is as expected if this effect is attributable to fluctuations in the initial geometry of the system. Charged-hadron, -pion, -kaon, and -proton transverse momentum distributions are found to be harder in events with higher-than-average elliptic flow, indicating an interplay between radial and elliptic flow.
The production of electrons from heavy-flavour hadron decays was measured as a function of transverse momentum (pT) in minimum-bias p–Pb collisions at sNN=5.02 TeV using the ALICE detector at the ...LHC. The measurement covers the pT interval 0.5<pT<12 GeV/c and the rapidity range −1.065<ycms<0.135 in the centre-of-mass reference frame. The contribution of electrons from background sources was subtracted using an invariant mass approach. The nuclear modification factor RpPb was calculated by comparing the pT-differential invariant cross section in p–Pb collisions to a pp reference at the same centre-of-mass energy, which was obtained by interpolating measurements at s=2.76 TeV and s=7 TeV. The RpPb is consistent with unity within uncertainties of about 25%, which become larger for pT below 1 GeV/c. The measurement shows that heavy-flavour production is consistent with binary scaling, so that a suppression in the high-pT yield in Pb–Pb collisions has to be attributed to effects induced by the hot medium produced in the final state. The data in p–Pb collisions are described by recent model calculations that include cold nuclear matter effects.
Transverse momentum spectra of π±, K± and p(p¯) up to pT=20 GeV/c at mid-rapidity in pp, peripheral (60–80%) and central (0–5%) Pb–Pb collisions at sNN=2.76 TeV have been measured using the ALICE ...detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The proton-to-pion and the kaon-to-pion ratios both show a distinct peak at pT≈3 GeV/c in central Pb–Pb collisions. Below the peak, pT<3 GeV/c, both ratios are in good agreement with hydrodynamical calculations, suggesting that the peak itself is dominantly the result of radial flow rather than anomalous hadronization processes. For pT>10 GeV/c particle ratios in pp and Pb–Pb collisions are in agreement and the nuclear modification factors for π±, K± and p(p¯) indicate that, within the systematic and statistical uncertainties, the suppression is the same. This suggests that the chemical composition of leading particles from jets in the medium is similar to that of vacuum jets.
We have performed the first measurement of the coherent ψ (2S) photo-production cross section in ultra-peripheral Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC. This charmonium excited state is reconstructed via the ψ ...(2S)→l+l- and ψ (2S)→J/ψπ+π- decays, where the J/ψ decays into two leptons. The analysis is based on an event sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 22 μb-1. The cross section for coherent ψ (2S) production in the rapidity interval -0.9 < y < 0.9 is dσ$coh\atop{ψ(2s)}$ /dy= 0.83±0.19 (stat + syst) mb . Also, the ψ(2S) to J/ψ coherent cross section ratio is 0.34$+0.08\atop{-0.07}$ (stat + syst). The obtained results are compared to predictions from theoretical models.
This Letter presents the first experimental evidence of the attractive strong interaction between a proton and a ϕ meson. The result is obtained from two-particle correlations of combined p − ϕ ⊕ ¯ ...p − ϕ pairs measured in high-multiplicity p p collisions at √ s = 13 TeV by the ALICE Collaboration. The spin-averaged scattering length and effective range of the p − ϕ interaction are extracted from the fully corrected correlation function employing the Lednický-Lyuboshits approach. In particular, the imaginary part of the scattering length vanishes within uncertainties, indicating that inelastic processes do not play a prominent role for the p − ϕ interaction. These data demonstrate that the interaction is dominated by elastic p − ϕ scattering. Furthermore, an analysis employing phenomenological Gaussian- and Yukawa-type potentials is conducted. Under the assumption of the latter, the N − ϕ coupling constant is found to be gN−ϕ = 0.14 ± 0.03 ( stat ) ± 0.02 ( syst ) . This work provides valuable experimental input to accomplish a self-consistent description of the N − ϕ interaction, which is particularly relevant for the more fundamental studies on partial restoration of chiral symmetry in nuclear medium.