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Correlations between moments of different flow coefficients are measured in Pb–Pb collisions at √sNN=5.02TeV recorded with the ALICE detector. These new measurements are based on multiparticle mixed harmonic cumulants calculated using charged particles in the pseudorapidity region |η| <0.8with the transverse momentum range 0.2 <pT<5.0GeV/c. The centrality dependence of correlations between two flow coefficients as well as the correlations between three flow coefficients, both in terms of their second moments, are shown. In addition, a collection of mixed harmonic cumulants involving higher moments of v2and v3is measured for the first time, where the characteristic signature of negative, positive and negative signs of four-, six-and eight-particle cumulants are observed, respectively. The measurements are compared to the hydrodynamic calculations using iEBE-VISHNU with AMPT and TRENTo initial conditions. It is shown that the measurements carried out using the LHC Run 2 data in 2015 have the precision to explore the details of initial-state fluctuations and probe the nonlinear hydrodynamic response of v2and v3to their corresponding initial anisotropy coefficients ε2and ε3. These new studies on correlations between three flow coefficients as well as correlations between higher moments of two different flow coefficients will pave the way to tighten constraints on initial-state models and help to extract precise information on the dynamic evolution of the hot and dense matter created in heavy-ion collisions at the LHC.
Correction to: ALICE Collaboration. Direct observation of the dead-cone effect in quantum chromodynamics. Nature 605, 440–446 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04572-w
The ALICE collaboration at the CERN LHC reports novel measurements of jet substructure in pp collisions at √s = 7 TeV and central Pb–Pb collisions at √sNN = 2.76 TeV. Jet substructure of track-based jets is explored via iterative declustering and grooming techniques. We present the measurement of the momentum sharing of two-prong substructure exposed via grooming, the zg, and its dependence on the opening angle, in both pp and Pb–Pb collisions. We also present the measurement of the distribution of the number of branches obtained in the iterative declustering of the jet, which is interpreted as the number of its hard splittings. In Pb–Pb collisions, we observe a suppression of symmetric splittings at large opening angles and an enhancement of splittings at small opening angles relative to pp collisions, with no significant modification of the number of splittings. The results are compared to predictions from various Monte Carlo event generators to test the role of important concepts in the evolution of the jet in the medium such as colour coherence.
Coherent photoproduction of ρ⁰ vector mesons in ultra-peripheral Pb-Pb collisions at √sNN = 5.02 TeV
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Cross sections for the coherent photoproduction of ρ0 vector mesons in ultra-peripheral Pb-Pb collisions at sNN−−−√ = 5.02 TeV are reported. The measurements, which rely on the π+π− decay channel, are presented in three regions of rapidity covering the range |y| < 0.8. For each rapidity interval, cross sections are shown for different nuclear-breakup classes defined according to the presence of neutrons measured in the zero-degree calorimeters. The results are compared with predictions based on different models of nuclear shadowing. Finally, the observation of a coherently produced resonance-like structure with a mass around 1.7 GeV/c2 and a width of about 140 MeV/c2 is reported and compared with similar observations from other experiments.
Results on the production of 4He and Image 1 nuclei in Pb–Pb collisions at √sNN=2.76TeV in the rapidity range |y|<1, using the ALICE detector, are presented in this paper. The rapidity densities corresponding to 0–10% central events are found to be dN/dyHe4=(0.8±0.4(stat)±0.3(syst))×10−6 and Image 2, respectively. This is in agreement with the statistical thermal model expectation assuming the same chemical freeze-out temperature (Tchem=156MeV) as for light hadrons. The measured ratio of Image 3 is 1.4±0.8(stat)±0.5(syst).
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>10 GeV/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 elliptic flow (v2) of (anti-)3He is measured in Pb–Pb collisions at √sNN=5.02TeV in the transverse-momentum (pT) range of 2–6 GeV/c for the centrality classes 0–20%, 20–40%, and 40–60% using the event-plane method. This measurement is compared to that of pions, kaons, and protons at the same center-of-mass energy. A clear mass ordering is observed at low pT, as expected from relativistic hydrodynamics. The violation of the scaling of v2 with the number of constituent quarks at low pT, already observed for identified hadrons and deuterons at LHC energies, is confirmed also for (anti-)3He. The elliptic flow of (anti-)3He is underestimated by the Blast-Wave model and overestimated by a simple coalescence approach based on nucleon scaling. The elliptic flow of (anti-)3He measured in the centrality classes 0–20% and 20–40% is well described by a more sophisticated coalescence model where the phase-space distributions of protons and neutrons are generated using the iEBE-VISHNU hybrid model with AMPT initial conditions.
The study of the azimuthal anisotropy of inclusive muons produced in p–Pb collisions at √sNN=8.16 TeV, using the ALICE detector at the LHC is reported. The measurement of the second-order Fourier coefficient of the particle azimuthal distribution, v2, is performed as a function of transverse momentum pT in the 0–20% high-multiplicity interval at both forward (2.03<yCMS<3.53) and backward (−4.46<yCMS<−2.96) rapidities over a wide pT range, 0.5<pT<10 GeV/c, in which a dominant contribution of muons from heavy-flavour hadron decays is expected at pT>2 GeV/c. The v2 coefficient of inclusive muons is extracted using two different techniques, namely two-particle cumulants, used for the first time for heavy-flavour measurements, and forward–central two-particle correlations. Both techniques give compatible results. A positive v2 is measured at both forward and backward rapidities with a significance larger than 4.7σ and 7.6σ, respectively, in the interval 2<pT<6 GeV/c. Comparisons with previous measurements in p–Pb collisions at √sNN=5.02 TeV, and with AMPT and CGC-based theoretical calculations are discussed. The findings impose new constraints on the theoretical interpretations of the origin of the collective behaviour in small collision systems.
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.
In quantum scattering processes between two particles, aspects characterizing the strong and Coulomb forces can be observed in kinematic distributions of the particle pairs. The sensitivity to the interaction potential reaches a maximum at low relative momentum and vanishing distance between the two particles. Ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions at the LHC provide an abundant source of many hadron species and can be employed as a measurement method of scattering parameters that is complementary to scattering experiments. This study confirms that momentum correlations of particles produced in Pb–Pb collisions at the LHC provide an accurate measurement of kaon–proton scattering parameters at low relative momentum, allowing precise access to the K−p→K−p process. This work also validates the femtoscopic measurement in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions as an alternative to scattering experiments and a complementary tool to the study of exotic atoms with comparable precision. In this work, the first femtoscopic measurement of momentum correlations of K−p(K+p‾) and K+p(K−p‾) pairs in Pb–Pb collisions at centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of sNN=5.02 TeV registered by the ALICE experiment is reported. The components of the K−p complex scattering length are extracted and found to be ℜf0=−0.91±0.03(stat)−0.03+0.17(syst) and ℑf0=0.92±0.05(stat)−0.33+0.12(syst). The results are compared with chiral effective field theory predictions as well as with existing data from dedicated scattering and exotic kaonic atom experiments.
This letter reports the first measurement of spin alignment, with respect to the helicity axis, for D⁎+ vector mesons and their charge conjugates from charm-quark hadronisation (prompt) and from beauty-meson decays (non-prompt) in hadron collisions. The measurements were performed at midrapidity (|y|<0.8) as a function of transverse momentum (pT) in proton–proton (pp) collisions collected by ALICE at the centre-of-mass energy √s=13TeV. The diagonal spin density matrix element ρ00 of D⁎+ mesons was measured from the angular distribution of the D⁎+→D0(→K−π+)π+ decay products, in the D⁎+ rest frame, with respect to the D⁎+ momentum direction in the pp centre of mass frame. The ρ00 value for prompt D⁎+ mesons is consistent with 1/3, which implies no spin alignment. However, for non-prompt D⁎+ mesons an evidence of ρ00 larger than 1/3 is found. The measured value of the spin density element is ρ00=0.455±0.022(stat.)±0.035(syst.) in the 5<pT<20GeV/c interval, which is consistent with a Pythia 8 Monte Carlo simulation coupled with the EvtGen package, which implements the helicity conservation in the decay of D⁎+ meson from beauty mesons. In non-central heavy-ion collisions, the spin of the D⁎+ mesons may be globally aligned with the direction of the initial angular momentum and magnetic field. Based on the results for pp collisions reported in this letter it is shown that alignment of non-prompt D⁎+ mesons due to the helicity conservation coupled to the collective anisotropic expansion may mimic the signal of global spin alignment in heavy-ion collisions.
The measurement of the production of f0(980) in inelastic pp collisions at √s=5.02 TeV is presented. This is the first reported measurement of inclusive f0(980) yield at LHC energies. The production is measured at midrapidity, |y|<0.5, in a wide transverse momentum range, 0<pT<16 GeV/c, by reconstructing the resonance in the f0(980) →π+π− hadronic decay channel using the ALICE detector. The pT-differential yields are compared to those of pions, protons and ϕ mesons as well as to predictions from the HERWIG 7.2 QCD-inspired Monte Carlo event generator and calculations from a coalescence model that uses the AMPT model as an input. The ratio of the pT-integrated yield of f0(980) relative to pions is compared to measurements in e+e− and pp collisions at lower energies and predictions from statistical hadronisation models and HERWIG 7.2. A mild collision energy dependence of the f0(980) to pion production is observed in pp collisions from SPS to LHC energies. All considered models underpredict the pT-integrated 2f0(980)/(π+ +π−) ratio. The prediction from the canonical statistical hadronisation model assuming a zero total strangeness content of f0(980) is consistent with the data within 1.9σ and is the closest to the data. The results provide an essential reference for future measurements of the particle yield and nuclear modification in p–Pb and Pb–Pb collisions, which have been proposed to be instrumental to probe the elusive nature and quark composition of the f0(980) scalar meson.
In ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions, the event-by-event variation of the elliptic flow v2 reflects fluctuations in the shape of the initial state of the system. This allows to select events with the same centrality but different initial geometry. This selection technique, Event Shape Engineering, has been used in the analysis of charge-dependent two- and three-particle correlations in Pb–Pb collisions at √sNN=2.76 TeV. The two-particle correlator 〈cos(φα−φβ)〉, calculated for different combinations of charges α and β, is almost independent of v2 (for a given centrality), while the three-particle correlator 〈cos(φα+φβ−2Ψ2)〉 scales almost linearly both with the event v2 and charged-particle pseudorapidity density. The charge dependence of the three-particle correlator is often interpreted as evidence for the Chiral Magnetic Effect (CME), a parity violating effect of the strong interaction. However, its measured dependence on v2 points to a large non-CME contribution to the correlator. Comparing the results with Monte Carlo calculations including a magnetic field due to the spectators, the upper limit of the CME signal contribution to the three-particle correlator in the 10–50% centrality interval is found to be 26–33% at 95% confidence level.
The ALICE Collaboration reports the measurement of semi-inclusive distributions of charged-particle jets recoiling from a high-transverse momentum trigger hadron in p–Pb collisions at √sNN=5.02 TeV. Jets are reconstructed from charged-particle tracks using the anti-kT algorithm with resolution parameter R=0.2 and 0.4. A data-driven statistical approach is used to correct the uncorrelated background jet yield. Recoil jet distributions are reported for jet transverse momentum 15<pT,jetch<50GeV/c and are compared in various intervals of p–Pb event activity, based on charged-particle multiplicity and zero-degree neutral energy in the forward (Pb-going) direction. The semi-inclusive observable is self-normalized and such comparisons do not require the interpretation of p–Pb event activity in terms of collision geometry, in contrast to inclusive jet observables. These measurements provide new constraints on the magnitude of jet quenching in small systems at the LHC. In p–Pb collisions with high event activity, the average medium-induced out-of-cone energy transport for jets with R=0.4 and 15<pT,jetch<50GeV/c is measured to be less than 0.4 GeV/c at 90% confidence, which is over an order of magnitude smaller than a similar measurement for central Pb–Pb collisions at √sNN=2.76TeV. Comparison is made to theoretical calculations of jet quenching in small systems, and to inclusive jet measurements in p–Pb collisions selected by event activity at the LHC and in d–Au collisions at RHIC.
The production of prompt D0, Ds+, and Λc+ hadrons, and their ratios, Ds+/D0 and Λc+/D0, are measured in proton–proton collisions at √s=13 TeV at midrapidity (|y|<0.5) with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The measurements are performed as a function of the charm-hadron transverse momentum (pT) in intervals of charged-particle multiplicity, measured with two multiplicity estimators covering different pseudorapidity regions. While the strange to non-strange Ds+/D0 ratio indicates no significant multiplicity dependence, the baryon-to-meson pT-differential Λc+/D0 ratio shows a multiplicity-dependent enhancement, with a significance of 5.3σ for 1<pT<12 GeV/c, comparing the highest multiplicity interval with respect to the lowest one. The measurements are compared with a theoretical model that explains the multiplicity dependence by a canonical treatment of quantum charges in the statistical hadronisation approach, and with predictions from event generators that implement colour reconnection mechanisms beyond the leading colour approximation to model the hadronisation process. The Λc+/D0 ratios as a function of pT present a similar shape and magnitude as the Λ/KS0 ratios in comparable multiplicity intervals, suggesting a potential common mechanism for light- and charm-hadron formation, with analogous multiplicity dependence. The pT-integrated ratios, extrapolated down to pT=0, do not show a significant dependence on multiplicity within the uncertainties.
Fluctuation measurements are important sources of information on the mechanism of particle production at LHC energies. This article reports the first experimental results on third-order cumulants of the net-proton distributions in Pb–Pb collisions at a center-of-mass energy √sNN=5.02 TeV recorded by the ALICE detector. The results on the second-order cumulants of net-proton distributions at √sNN=2.76 and 5.02 TeV are also discussed in view of effects due to the global and local baryon number conservation. The results demonstrate the presence of long-range rapidity correlations between protons and antiprotons. Such correlations originate from the early phase of the collision. The experimental results are compared with HIJING and EPOS model calculations, and the dependence of the fluctuation measurements on the phase-space coverage is examined in the context of lattice quantum chromodynamics (LQCD) and hadron resonance gas (HRG) model estimations. The measured third-order cumulants are consistent with zero within experimental uncertainties of about 4% and are described well by LQCD and HRG predictions.
The interaction between Λ baryons and kaons/antikaons is a crucial ingredient for the strangeness S=0 and S=−2 sector of the meson–baryon interaction at low energies. In particular, the ΛK‾ might help in understanding the origin of states such as the Ξ(1620), whose nature and properties are still under debate. Experimental data on Λ–K and Λ–K‾ systems are scarce, leading to large uncertainties and tension between the available theoretical predictions constrained by such data. In this Letter we present the measurements of Λ–K⊕+Λ‾–K− and Λ–K⊕−Λ‾–K+ correlations obtained in the high-multiplicity triggered data sample in pp collisions at s=13 TeV recorded by ALICE at the LHC. The correlation function for both pairs is modeled using the Lednický–Lyuboshits analytical formula and the corresponding scattering parameters are extracted. The Λ–K⊕−Λ‾–K+ correlations show the presence of several structures at relative momenta k⁎ above 200 MeV/c, compatible with the Ω baryon, the Ξ(1690), and Ξ(1820) resonances decaying into Λ–K− pairs. The low k⁎ region in the Λ–K⊕−Λ‾–K+ also exhibits the presence of the Ξ(1620) state, expected to strongly couple to the measured pair. The presented data allow to access the ΛK+ and ΛK− strong interaction with an unprecedented precision and deliver the first experimental observation of the Ξ(1620) decaying into ΛK−.
Multiplicity (Nch) distributions and transverse momentum (pT) spectra of inclusive primary charged particles in the kinematic range of |η|<0.8 and 0.15 GeV/c<pT<10 GeV/c are reported for pp, p–Pb, Xe–Xe and Pb–Pb collisions at centre-of-mass energies per nucleon pair ranging from √sNN=2.76 TeV up to 13 TeV. A sequential two-dimensional unfolding procedure is used to extract the correlation between the transverse momentum of primary charged particles and the charged-particle multiplicity of the corresponding collision. This correlation sharply characterises important features of the final state of a collision and, therefore, can be used as a stringent test of theoretical models. The multiplicity distributions as well as the mean and standard deviation derived from the pT spectra are compared to state-of-the-art model predictions. Providing these fundamental observables of bulk particle production consistently across a wide range of collision energies and system sizes can serve as an important input for tuning Monte Carlo event generators.
We present the first systematic comparison of the charged-particle pseudorapidity densities for three widely different collision systems, pp, pPb, and PbPb, at the top energy of the Large Hadron Collider (√sNN=5.02TeV) measured over a wide pseudorapidity range (−3.5<η<5), the widest possible among the four experiments at that facility. The systematic uncertainties are minimised since the measurements are recorded by the same experimental apparatus (ALICE). The distributions for pPb and PbPb collisions are determined as a function of the centrality of the collisions, while results from pp collisions are reported for inelastic events with at least one charged particle at midrapidity. The charged-particle pseudorapidity densities are, under simple and robust assumptions, transformed to charged-particle rapidity densities. This allows for the calculation and the presentation of the evolution of the width of the rapidity distributions and of a lower bound on the Bjorken energy density, as a function of the number of participants in all three collision systems. We find a decreasing width of the particle production, and roughly a smooth ten fold increase in the energy density, as the system size grows, which is consistent with a gradually higher dense phase of matter.
Production of inclusive charmonia in pp collisions at center-of-mass energy of √s = 13 TeV and p–Pb collisions at center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of √sNN = 8.16 TeV is studied as a function of charged-particle pseudorapidity density with ALICE. Ground and excited charmonium states (J/ψ, ψ(2S)) are measured from their dimuon decays in the interval of rapidity in the center-of-mass frame 2.5 < ycms < 4.0 for pp collisions, and 2.03 < ycms < 3.53 and −4.46 < ycms < −2.96 for p–Pb collisions. The charged-particle pseudorapidity density is measured around midrapidity (|η| < 1.0). In pp collisions, the measured charged-particle multiplicity extends to about six times the average value, while in p-Pb collisions at forward (backward) rapidity a multiplicity corresponding to about three (four) times the average is reached. The ψ(2S) yield increases with the charged-particle pseudorapidity density. The ratio of ψ(2S) over J/ψ yield does not show a significant multiplicity dependence in either colliding system, suggesting a similar behavior of J/ψ and ψ(2S) yields with respect to charged-particle pseudorapidity density. Results for the ψ(2S) yield and its ratio with respect to J/ψ agree with available model calculations.
The production of inclusive, prompt and non-prompt J/ψ was studied for the first time at midrapidity (−1.37 < ycms < 0.43) in p-Pb collisions at √sNN = 8.16 TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The inclusive J/ψ mesons were reconstructed in the dielectron decay channel in the transverse momentum (pT) interval 0 < pT < 14 GeV/c and the prompt and non-prompt contributions were separated on a statistical basis for pT > 2 GeV/c. The study of the J/ψ mesons in the dielectron channel used for the first time in ALICE online single-electron triggers from the Transition Radiation Detector, providing a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 689 ± 13 μb−1. The proton-proton reference cross section for inclusive J/ψ was obtained based on interpolations of measured data at different centre-of-mass energies and a universal function describing the pT-differential J/ψ production cross sections. The pT-differential nuclear modification factors RpPb of inclusive, prompt, and non-prompt J/ψ are consistent with unity and described by theoretical models implementing only nuclear shadowing.
W±-boson production in p–Pb collisions at √sNN = 8.16 TeV and Pb–Pb collisions at √sNN = 5.02 TeV
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The production of the W± bosons measured in p–Pb collisions at a centreof-mass energy per nucleon–nucleon collision √sNN = 8.16 TeV and Pb–Pb collisions at √sNN = 5.02 TeV with ALICE at the LHC is presented. The W± bosons are measured via their muonic decay channel, with the muon reconstructed in the pseudorapidity region −4 < ηµ lab < −2.5 with transverse momentum p µ T > 10 GeV/c. While in Pb–Pb collisions the measurements are performed in the forward (2.5 < yµ cms < 4) rapidity region, in p–Pb collisions, where the centre-of-mass frame is boosted with respect to the laboratory frame, the measurements are performed in the backward (−4.46 < yµ cms < −2.96) and forward (2.03 < yµ cms < 3.53) rapidity regions. The W− and W+ production cross sections, leptoncharge asymmetry, and nuclear modification factors are evaluated as a function of the muon rapidity. In order to study the production as a function of the p–Pb collision centrality, the production cross sections of the W− and W+ bosons are combined and normalised to the average number of binary nucleon–nucleon collision hNcolli. In Pb–Pb collisions, the same measurements are presented as a function of the collision centrality. Study of the binary scaling of the W±-boson cross sections in p–Pb and Pb–Pb collisions is also reported. The results are compared with perturbative QCD calculations, with and without nuclear modifications of the Parton Distribution Functions (PDFs), as well as with available data at the LHC. Significant deviations from the theory expectations are found in the two collision systems, indicating that the measurements can provide additional constraints for the determination of nuclear PDFs and in particular of the light-quark distributions.
The measurement of the production of charm jets, identified by the presence of a D0 meson in the jet constituents, is presented in proton–proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies of √s = 5.02 and 13 TeV with the ALICE detector at the CERN LHC. The D0 mesons were reconstructed from their hadronic decay D0 → K−π+ and the respective charge conjugate. Jets were reconstructed from D0-meson candidates and charged particles using the anti-kT algorithm, in the jet transverse momentum range 5 < pT,chjet < 50 GeV/c, pseudorapidity |ηjet| < 0.9 − R, and with the jet resolution parameters R = 0.2, 0.4, 0.6. The distribution of the jet momentum fraction carried by a D0 meson along the jet axis (z ch) was measured in the range 0.4 < z ch < 1.0 in four ranges of the jet transverse momentum. Comparisons of results for different collision energies and jet resolution parameters are also presented. The measurements are compared to predictions from Monte Carlo event generators based on leading-order and next-to-leading-order perturbative quantum chromodynamics calculations. A generally good description of the main features of the data is obtained in spite of a few discrepancies at low pT,chjet. Measurements were also done for R = 0.3 at √s = 5.02 and are shown along with their comparisons to theoretical predictions in an appendix to this paper.
The procedure for the energy calibration of the high granularity electromagnetic calorimeter PHOS of the ALICE experiment is presented. The methods used to perform the relative gain calibration, to evaluate the geometrical alignment and the corresponding correction of the absolute energy scale, to obtain the nonlinearity correction coefficients and finally, to calculate the time-dependent calibration corrections, are discussed and illustrated by the PHOS performance in proton-proton (pp) collisions at √s=13 TeV. After applying all corrections, the achieved mass resolutions for π0 and η mesons for pT > 1.7 GeV/c are σmπ0 = 4.56 ± 0.03 MeV/c2 and σmη = 15.3 ± 1.0 MeV/c2, respectively.
Hadronic resonances are used to probe the hadron gas produced in the late stage of heavy-ion collisions since they decay on the same timescale, of the order of 1 to 10 fm/c, as the decoupling time of the system. In the hadron gas, (pseudo)elastic scatterings among the products of resonances that decayed before the kinetic freeze-out and regeneration processes counteract each other, the net effect depending on the resonance lifetime, the duration of the hadronic phase, and the hadronic cross sections at play. In this context, the Σ(1385)± particle is of particular interest as models predict that regeneration dominates over rescattering despite its relatively short lifetime of about 5.5 fm/c. The first measurement of the Σ(1385)± resonance production at midrapidity in Pb-Pb collisions at sNN−−−√=5.02 TeV with the ALICE detector is presented in this Letter. The resonances are reconstructed via their hadronic decay channel, Λπ, as a function of the transverse momentum (pT) and the collision centrality. The results are discussed in comparison with the measured yield of pions and with expectations from the statistical hadronization model as well as commonly employed event generators, including PYTHIA8/Angantyr and EPOS3 coupled to the UrQMD hadronic cascade afterburner. None of the models can describe the data. For Σ(1385)±, a similar behaviour as K∗(892)0 is observed in data unlike the predictions of EPOS3 with afterburner.
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.
Measurement of anti-3He nuclei absorption in matter and impact on their propagation in the Galaxy
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In our Galaxy, light antinuclei composed of antiprotons and antineutrons can be produced through high-energy cosmic-ray collisions with the interstellar medium or could also originate from the annihilation of dark-matter particles that have not yet been discovered. On Earth, the only way to produce and study antinuclei with high precision is to create them at high-energy particle accelerators. Although the properties of elementary antiparticles have been studied in detail, the knowledge of the interaction of light antinuclei with matter is limited. We determine the disappearance probability of 3He when it encounters matter particles and annihilates or disintegrates within the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider. We extract the inelastic interaction cross section, which is then used as an input to the calculations of the transparency of our Galaxy to the propagation of 3He stemming from dark-matter annihilation and cosmic-ray interactions within the interstellar medium. For a specifc dark-matter profle, we estimate a transparency of about 50%, whereas it varies with increasing 3He momentum from 25% to 90% for cosmic-ray sources. The results indicate that 3He nuclei can travel long distances in the Galaxy, and can be used to study cosmic-ray interactions and dark-matter annihilation.
The first evidence of spin alignment of vector mesons (K*0 and ϕ) in heavy-ion collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is reported. The spin density matrix element ρ00 is measured at midrapidity (|y|< 0.5) in Pb-Pb collisions at a center-of-mass energy (√sNN) of 2.76 TeV
with the ALICE detector. ρ00 values are found to be less than 1/3 (1/3 implies no spin alignment) at low transverse momentum (pT<2 GeV/c) for K*0 and ϕ at a level of 3σ and 2σ, respectively. No significant spin alignment is observed for the K0S meson (spin = 0) in Pb-Pb collisions and for the vector mesons in pp collisions. The measured spin alignment is unexpectedly large but qualitatively consistent with the expectation from models which attribute it to a polarization of quarks in the presence of angular momentum in heavy-ion collisions and a subsequent hadronization by the process of recombination.
The transverse momentum (pT) differential yields of (anti-)3He and (anti-)3H measured in p-Pb collisions at sNN−−−√ = 5.02 TeV with ALICE at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are presented. The ratios of the pT-integrated yields of (anti-)3He and (anti-)3H to the proton yields are reported, as well as the pT dependence of the coalescence parameters B3 for (anti-)3He and (anti-)3H. For (anti-)3He, the results obtained in four classes of the mean charged-particle multiplicity density are also discussed. These results are compared to predictions from a canonical statistical hadronization model and coalescence approaches. An upper limit on the total yield of 4He¯ is determined.
One of the key challenges for nuclear physics today is to understand from first principles the effective interaction between hadrons with different quark content. First successes have been achieved using techniques that solve the dynamics of quarks and gluons on discrete space-time lattices1,2. Experimentally, the dynamics of the strong interaction have been studied by scattering hadrons off each other. Such scattering experiments are difficult or impossible for unstable hadrons3,4,5,6 and so high-quality measurements exist only for hadrons containing up and down quarks7. Here we demonstrate that measuring correlations in the momentum space between hadron pairs8,9,10,11,12 produced in ultrarelativistic proton–proton collisions at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) provides a precise method with which to obtain the missing information on the interaction dynamics between any pair of unstable hadrons. Specifically, we discuss the case of the interaction of baryons containing strange quarks (hyperons). We demonstrate how, using precision measurements of proton–omega baryon correlations, the effect of the strong interaction for this hadron–hadron pair can be studied with precision similar to, and compared with, predictions from lattice calculations13,14. The large number of hyperons identified in proton–proton collisions at the LHC, together with accurate modelling15 of the small (approximately one femtometre) inter-particle distance and exact predictions for the correlation functions, enables a detailed determination of the short-range part of the nucleon-hyperon interaction.
The study of the strength and behaviour of the antikaon-nucleon (K¯¯¯¯N) interaction constitutes one of the key focuses of the strangeness sector in low-energy Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). In this letter a unique high-precision measurement of the strong interaction between kaons and protons, close and above the kinematic threshold, is presented. The femtoscopic measurements of the correlation function at low pair-frame relative momentum of (K+ p ⊕ K− p¯¯¯) and (K− p ⊕ K+ p¯¯¯) pairs measured in pp collisions at s√ = 5, 7 and 13 TeV are reported. A structure observed around a relative momentum of 58 MeV/c in the measured correlation function of (K− p ⊕ K+ p¯¯¯) with a significance of 4.4. σ constitutes the first experimental evidence for the opening of the (K¯¯¯¯0n⊕K0n¯¯¯) isospin breaking channel due to the mass difference between charged and neutral kaons. The measured correlation functions have been compared to Jülich and Kyoto models in addition to the Coulomb potential. The high-precision data at low relative momenta presented in this work prove femtoscopy to be a powerful complementary tool to scattering experiments and provide new constraints above the K¯¯¯¯N threshold for low-energy QCD chiral models.
Femtoscopic correlations of non-identical charged kaons (K+K−) are studied in Pb−Pb collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon−nucleon collision sNN−−−√=2.76 TeV by ALICE at the LHC. One-dimensional K+K− correlation functions are analyzed in three centrality classes and eight intervals of particle-pair transverse momentum. The Lednický and Luboshitz interaction model used in the K+K− analysis includes the final-state Coulomb interactions between kaons and the final-state interaction through a0(980) and f0(980) resonances. The mass of f0(980) and coupling were extracted from the fit to K+K− correlation functions using the femtoscopic technique for the first time. The measured mass and width of the f0(980) resonance are consistent with other published measurements. The height of the ϕ(1020) meson peak present in the K+K− correlation function rapidly decreases with increasing source radius, qualitatively in agreement with an inverse volume dependence. A phenomenological fit to this trend suggests that the ϕ(1020) meson yield is dominated by particles produced directly from the hadronization of the system. The small fraction subsequently produced by FSI could not be precisely quantified with data presented in this paper and will be assessed in future work.
Two-particle transverse momentum differential correlators, recently measured in Pb-Pb collisions at LHC energies, provide an additional tool to gain insights into particle production mechanisms and infer transport properties, such as the ratio of shear viscosity to entropy density, of the medium created in Pb-Pb collisions. The longitudinal long-range correlations and the large azimuthal anisotropy measured at low transverse momenta in small collision systems, namely pp and p-Pb, at LHC energies resemble manifestations of collective behaviour. This suggests that locally equilibrated matter may be produced in these small collision systems, similar to what is observed in Pb-Pb collisions. In this work, the same two-particle transverse momentum differential correlators are exploited in pp and p-Pb collisions at s√=7 TeV and sNN−−−√=5.02 TeV, respectively, to seek evidence for viscous effects. Specifically, the strength and shape of the correlators are studied as a function of the produced particle multiplicity to identify evidence for longitudinal broadening that might reveal the presence of viscous effects in these smaller systems. The measured correlators and their evolution from pp and p-Pb to Pb-Pb collisions are additionally compared to predictions from Monte Carlo event generators, and the potential presence of viscous effects is discussed.
Production of K0S, Λ (Λ), Ξ±, and Ω± in jets and in the underlying event in pp and p–Pb collisions
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The production of strange hadrons (K0S, Λ, Ξ±, and Ω±), baryon-to-meson ratios (Λ/K0S, Ξ/K0S, and Ω/K0S), and baryon-to-baryon ratios (Ξ/Λ, Ω/Λ, and Ω/Ξ) associated with jets and the underlying event were measured as a function of transverse momentum (pT) in pp collisions at s√=13 TeV and p-Pb collisions at sNN−−−√=5.02 TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The inclusive production of the same particle species and the corresponding ratios are also reported. The production of multi-strange hadrons, Ξ± and Ω±, and their associated particle ratios in jets and in the underlying event are measured for the first time. In both pp and p-Pb collisions, the baryon-to-meson and baryon-to-baryon yield ratios measured in jets differ from the inclusive particle production for low and intermediate hadron pT (0.6−6 GeV/c). Ratios measured in the underlying event are in turn similar to those measured for inclusive particle production. In pp collisions, the particle production in jets is compared with PYTHIA 8 predictions with three colour-reconnection implementation modes. None of them fully reproduces the data in the measured hadron pT region. The maximum deviation is observed for Ξ± and Ω±, which reaches a factor of about six. In p-Pb collisions, there is no significant event-multiplicity dependence for particle production in jets, in contrast to what is observed in the underlying event. The presented measurements provide novel constraints on hadronisation and its Monte Carlo description. In particular, they demonstrate that the fragmentation of jets alone is insufficient to describe the strange and multi-strange particle production in hadronic collisions at LHC energies.
Anisotropic flow and flow fluctuations of identified hadrons in Pb–Pb collisions at √sNN = 5.02 TeV
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The first measurements of elliptic flow of π±, K±, p+p¯¯¯, K0S, Λ+Λ¯¯¯¯, ϕ, Ξ−+Ξ+, and Ω−+Ω+ using multiparticle cumulants in Pb−Pb collisions at sNN−−−√ = 5.02 TeV are presented. Results obtained with two- (v2{2}) and four-particle cumulants (v2{4}) are shown as a function of transverse momentum, pT, for various collision centrality intervals. Combining the data for both v2{2} and v2{4} also allows us to report the first measurements of the mean elliptic flow, elliptic flow fluctuations, and relative elliptic flow fluctuations for various hadron species. These observables probe the event-by-event eccentricity fluctuations in the initial state and the contributions from the dynamic evolution of the expanding quark-gluon plasma. The characteristic features observed in previous pT-differential anisotropic flow measurements for identified hadrons with two-particle correlations, namely the mass ordering at low pT and the approximate scaling with the number of constituent quarks at intermediate pT, are similarly present in the four-particle correlations and the combinations of v2{2} and v2{4}. In addition, a particle species dependence of flow fluctuations is observed that could indicate a significant contribution from final state hadronic interactions. The comparison between experimental measurements and CoLBT model calculations, which combine the various physics processes of hydrodynamics, quark coalescence, and jet fragmentation, illustrates their importance over a wide pT range.
Three-body nuclear forces play an important role in the structure of nuclei and hypernuclei and are also incorporated in models to describe the dynamics of dense baryonic matter, such as in neutron stars. So far, only indirect measurements anchored to the binding energies of nuclei can be used to constrain the three-nucleon force, and if hyperons are considered, the scarce data on hypernuclei impose only weak constraints on the three-body forces. In this work, we present the first direct measurement of the p−p−p and p−p−Λ systems in terms of three-particle mixed moments carried out for pp collisions at s√ = 13 TeV. Three-particle cumulants are extracted from the normalised mixed moments by applying the Kubo formalism, where the three-particle interaction contribution to these moments can be isolated after subtracting the known two-body interaction terms. A negative cumulant is found for the p−p−p system, hinting to the presence of a residual three-body effect while for p−p−Λ the cumulant is consistent with zero. This measurement demonstrates the accessibility of three-baryon correlations at the LHC.
The transverse-momentum (pT) spectra of K∗(892)0 and ϕ(1020) measured with the ALICE detector up to pT = 16 GeV/c in the rapidity range −1.2<y<0.3, in p-Pb collisions at the center-of-mass energy per nucleon-nucleon collision sNN−−−√ = 5.02 TeV are presented as a function of charged particle multiplicity and rapidity. The measured pT distributions show a dependence on both multiplicity and rapidity at low pT whereas no significant dependence is observed at high pT. A rapidity dependence is observed in the pT-integrated yield (dN/dy), whereas the mean transverse momentum (⟨pT⟩) shows a flat behavior as a function of rapidity. The rapidity asymmetry (Yasym) at low pT ( < 5 GeV/c) is more significant for higher multiplicity classes. At high pT, no significant rapidity asymmetry is observed in any of the multiplicity classes. Both K∗(892)0 and ϕ(1020) show similar Yasym. The nuclear modification factor (QCP) as a function of pT shows a Cronin-like enhancement at intermediate pT, which is more prominent at higher rapidities (Pb-going direction) and in higher multiplicity classes. At high pT (> 5 GeV/c), the QCP values are greater than unity and no significant rapidity dependence is observed.
The production yields of non-prompt Ds+ mesons, namely Ds+ mesons from beauty-hadron decays, were measured for the first time as a function of the transverse momentum (pT) at midrapidity (|y|<0.5) in central and semi-central Pb−Pb collisions at a centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair sNN−−−√=5.02 TeV with the ALICE experiment at the LHC. The Ds+ mesons and their charge conjugates were reconstructed from the hadronic decay channel Ds+→ϕπ+, with ϕ→K−K+, in the 4<pT<36 GeV/c and 2<pT<24 GeV/c intervals for the 0−10% and 30−50% centrality classes, respectively. The measured yields of non-prompt Ds+ mesons are compared to those of prompt Ds+ and non-prompt D0 mesons by calculating the ratios of the production yields in Pb−Pb collisions and the nuclear modification factor RAA. The ratio between the RAA of non-prompt Ds+ and prompt Ds+ mesons, and that between the RAA of non-prompt Ds+ and non-prompt D0 mesons in central Pb−Pb collisions are found to be on average higher than unity in the 4<pT<12 GeV/c interval with a statistical significance of about 1.6σ and 1.7σ, respectively. The measured RAA ratios are compared with the predictions of theoretical models of heavy-quark transport in a hydrodynamically expanding QGP that incorporate hadronisation via quark recombination.
Measurement of the J/ψ polarization with respect to the event plane in Pb–Pb collisions at the LHC
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We study the polarization of inclusive J/ψ produced in Pb−Pb collisions at sNN−−−√=5.02 TeV at the LHC in the dimuon channel, via the measurement of the angular distribution of its decay products. We perform the study in the rapidity region 2.5<y<4, for three transverse momentum intervals (2<pT<4, 4<pT<6, 6<pT<10 GeV/c) and as a function of the centrality of the collision for 2<pT<6 GeV/c. For the first time, the polarization is measured with respect to the event plane of the collision, by considering the angle between the positive-charge decay muon in the J/ψ rest frame and the axis perpendicular to the event-plane vector in the laboratory system. A small transverse polarization is measured, with a significance reaching 3.9σ at low pT and for intermediate centrality values. The polarization could be connected with the behaviour of the quark−gluon plasma, formed in Pb−Pb collisions, as a rotating fluid with large vorticity, as well as with the existence of a strong magnetic field in the early stage of its formation.
This Letter reports on the first measurements of transverse momentum dependent flow angle Ψn and flow magnitude vn fluctuations, determined using new four-particle correlators. The measurements are performed for various centralities in Pb-Pb collisions at a centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of sNN−−−√ = 5.02 TeV with ALICE at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. Both flow angle and flow magnitude fluctuations are observed in the presented centrality ranges and are strongest in the most central collisions and for a transverse momentum pT>2 GeV/c. Comparison with theoretical models, including iEBE-VISHNU, MUSIC, and AMPT, show that the measurements exhibit unique sensitivities to the initial state of heavy-ion collisions.
The interaction of K− with protons is characterised by the presence of several coupled channels, systems like K¯¯¯¯0n and πΣ with a similar mass and the same quantum numbers as the K−p state. The strengths of these couplings to the K−p system are of crucial importance for the understanding of the nature of the Λ(1405) resonance and of the attractive K−p strong interaction. In this article, we present measurements of the K−p correlation functions in relative momentum space obtained in pp collisions at s√ = 13 TeV, in p-Pb collisions at sNN−−−√ = 5.02 TeV, and (semi)peripheral Pb-Pb collisions at sNN−−−√ = 5.02 TeV. The emitting source size, composed of a core radius anchored to the K+p correlation and of a resonance halo specific to each particle pair, varies between 1 and 2 fm in these collision systems. The strength and the effects of the K¯¯¯¯0n and πΣ inelastic channels on the measured K−p correlation function are investigated in the different colliding systems by comparing the data with state-of-the-art models of chiral potentials. A novel approach to determine the conversion weights ω, necessary to quantify the amount of produced inelastic channels in the correlation function, is presented. In this method, particle yields are estimated from thermal model predictions, and their kinematic distribution from blast-wave fits to measured data. The comparison of chiral potentials to the measured K−p interaction indicates that, while the πΣ−K−p dynamics is well reproduced by the model, the coupling to the K¯¯¯¯0n channel in the model is currently underestimated.
Measurements of the elliptic flow coefficient relative to the collision plane defined by the spectator neutrons v2{ΨSP} in collisions of Pb ions at center-of-mass energy per nucleon–nucleon pair sNN=2.76 TeV and Xe ions at sNN=5.44 TeV are reported. The results are presented for charged particles produced at midrapidity as a function of centrality and transverse momentum for the 5–70% and 0.2–6 GeV/c ranges, respectively. The ratio between v2{ΨSP} and the elliptic flow coefficient relative to the participant plane v2{4}, estimated using four-particle correlations, deviates by up to 20% from unity depending on centrality. This observation differs strongly from the magnitude of the corresponding eccentricity ratios predicted by the TRENTo and the elliptic power models of initial state fluctuations that are tuned to describe the participant plane anisotropies. The differences can be interpreted as a decorrelation of the neutron spectator plane and the reaction plane because of fragmentation of the remnants from the colliding nuclei, which points to an incompleteness of current models describing the initial state fluctuations. A significant transverse momentum dependence of the ratio v2{ΨSP}/v2{4} is observed in all but the most central collisions, which may help to understand whether momentum anisotropies at low and intermediate transverse momentum have a common origin in initial state fluctuations. The ratios of v2{ΨSP} and v2{4} to the corresponding initial state eccentricities for Xe–Xe and Pb–Pb collisions at similar initial entropy density show a difference of (7.0±0.9)% with an additional variation of +1.8% when including RHIC data in the TRENTo parameter extraction. These observations provide new experimental constraints for viscous effects in the hydrodynamic modeling of the expanding quark–gluon plasma produced in heavy-ion collisions at the LHC.
This letter reports measurements which characterize the underlying event associated with hard scatterings at mid-pseudorapidity (|η|<0.8) in pp, p−Pb and Pb−Pb collisions at centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair, sNN−−−√=5.02 TeV. The measurements are performed with ALICE at the LHC. Different multiplicity classes are defined based on the event activity measured at forward rapidities. The hard scatterings are identified by the leading particle defined as the charged particle with the largest transverse momentum (pT) in the collision and having 8<pT<15 GeV/c. The pT spectra of associated particles (0.5≤pT<6 GeV/c) are measured in different azimuthal regions defined with respect to the leading particle direction: toward, transverse, and away. The associated charged particle yields in the transverse region are subtracted from those of the away and toward regions. The remaining jet-like yields are reported as a function of the multiplicity measured in the transverse region. The measurements show a suppression of the jet-like yield in the away region and an enhancement of high-pT associated particles in the toward region in central Pb−Pb collisions, as compared to minimum-bias pp collisions. These observations are consistent with previous measurements that used two-particle correlations, and with an interpretation in terms of parton energy loss in a high-density quark gluon plasma. These yield modifications vanish in peripheral Pb−Pb collisions and are not observed in either high-multiplicity pp or p−Pb collisions.
This article presents new measurements of the fragmentation properties of jets in both proton-proton (pp) and heavy-ion collisions with the ALICE experiment at the LHC. We report distributions of the fraction zr of transverse momentum carried by subjets of radius r within jets of radius R. Charged-particle jets are reconstructed at midrapidity using the anti-kT algorithm with jet radius R=0.4, and subjets are reconstructed by reclustering the jet constituents using the anti-kT algorithm with radii r=0.1 and r=0.2. In pp collisions, we measure both the inclusive and leading subjet distributions. We compare these measurements to perturbative calculations at next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy, which suggest a large impact of threshold resummation and hadronization effects on the zr distribution. In heavy-ion collisions, we measure the leading subjet distributions, which allow access to a region of harder jet fragmentation than has been probed by previous measurements of jet quenching via hadron fragmentation distributions. The zr distributions enable extraction of the parton-to-subjet fragmentation function and allow for tests of the universality of jet fragmentation functions in the quark-gluon plasma (QGP). We find no significant modification of zr distributions in Pb-Pb compared to pp collisions. However, the distributions are also consistent with a hardening trend for zr<0.95, as predicted by several jet quenching models. As zr→1 our results indicate that any such hardening effects cease, exposing qualitatively new possibilities to disentangle competing jet quenching mechanisms. By comparing our results to theoretical calculations based on an independent extraction of the parton-to-jet fragmentation function, we find consistency with the universality of jet fragmentation and no indication of factorization breaking in the QGP.
This article presents measurements of the groomed jet radius and momentum splitting fraction in pp collisions at s√=5.02 TeV with the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Inclusive charged-particle jets are reconstructed at midrapidity using the anti-kT algorithm for transverse momentum 60<pchjetT<80 GeV/c. We report results using two different grooming algorithms: soft drop and, for the first time, dynamical grooming. For each grooming algorithm, a variety of grooming settings are used in order to explore the impact of collinear radiation on these jet substructure observables. These results are compared to perturbative calculations that include resummation of large logarithms at all orders in the strong coupling constant. We find good agreement of the theoretical predictions with the data for all grooming settings considered.
The production of non-prompt D0 mesons from beauty-hadron decays was measured at midrapidity (|y|<0.5) in Pb-Pb collisions at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of sNN−−−√=5.02 TeV with the ALICE experiment at the LHC. Their nuclear modification factor (RAA), measured for the first time down to pT=1 GeV/c in the 0−10% and 30−50% centrality classes, indicates a significant suppression, up to a factor of about three, for pT>5 GeV/c in the 0−10% central Pb-Pb collisions. The data are described by models that include both collisional and radiative processes in the calculation of beauty-quark energy loss in the quark-gluon plasma, and quark recombination in addition to fragmentation as a hadronisation mechanism. The ratio of the non-prompt to prompt D0-meson RAA is larger than unity for pT>4 GeV/c in the 0−10% central Pb-Pb collisions, as predicted by models in which beauty quarks lose less energy than charm quarks in the quark-gluon plasma because of their larger mass.
The first measurement of event-by-event antideuteron number fluctuations in high energy heavy-ion collisions is presented. The measurements are carried out at midrapidity (|η|<0.8) as a function of collision centrality in Pb−Pb collisions at sNN−−−√=5.02 TeV using the ALICE detector. A significant negative correlation between the produced antiprotons and antideuterons is observed in all collision centralities. The results are compared with a state-of-the-art coalescence calculation. While it describes the ratio of higher order cumulants of the antideuteron multiplicity distribution, it fails to describe quantitatively the magnitude of the correlation between antiproton and antideuteron production. On the other hand, thermal-statistical model calculations describe all the measured observables within uncertainties only for correlation volumes that are different with respect to those describing proton yields and a similar measurement of net-proton number fluctuations.
The production of K∗(892)0 and ϕ(1020) mesons in proton-proton (pp) and lead-lead (Pb-Pb) collisions at sNN−−−√=5.02 TeV has been measured using the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The transverse momentum (pT) distributions of K∗(892)0 and ϕ(1020) mesons have been measured at midrapidity (|y|<0.5) up to pT=20 GeV/c in inelastic pp collisions and for several Pb-Pb collision centralities. The collision centrality and collision energy dependence of the average transverse momenta agree with the radial flow scenario observed with stable hadrons, showing that the effect is stronger for more central collisions and higher collision energies. The K∗0/K ratio is found to be suppressed in Pb-Pb collisions relative to pp collisions: this indicates a loss of the measured K∗(892)0 signal due to rescattering of its decay products in the hadronic phase. In contrast, for the longer-lived ϕ(1020) mesons, no such suppression is observed. The nuclear modification factors (RAA) of K∗(892)0 and ϕ(1020) mesons are calculated using pp reference spectra at the same collision energy. In central Pb-Pb collisions for pT>8 GeV/c, the RAA values of K∗(892)0 and ϕ(1020) are below unity and observed to be similar to those of pions, kaons, and (anti)protons. The RAA values at high pT (>~8 GeV/c) for K∗(892)0 and ϕ(1020) mesons are in agreement within uncertainties for sNN−−−√=5.02 and 2.76 TeV.
This article presents groomed jet substructure measurements in pp and Pb−Pb collisions at √sNN=5.02 TeV with the ALICE detector. The soft drop grooming algorithm provides access to the hard parton splittings inside a jet by removing soft wide-angle radiation. We report the groomed jet momentum splitting fraction, zg, and the (scaled) groomed jet radius, θg. Charged-particle jets are reconstructed at midrapidity using the anti-kT algorithm with resolution parameters R=0.2 and R=0.4. In heavy-ion collisions, the large underlying event poses a challenge for the reconstruction of groomed jet observables, since fluctuations in the background can cause groomed parton splittings to be misidentified. By using strong grooming conditions to reduce this background, we report these observables fully corrected for detector effects and background fluctuations for the first time. A narrowing of the θg distribution in Pb−Pb collisions compared to pp collisions is seen, which provides direct evidence of the modification of the angular structure of jets in the quark-gluon plasma. No significant modification of the zg distribution in Pb−Pb collisions compared to pp collisions is observed. These results are compared with a variety of theoretical models of jet quenching, and provide constraints on jet energy-loss mechanisms and coherence effects in the quark-gluon plasma.
The production of K∗(892)0 and ϕ(1020) resonances has been measured in p-Pb collisions at sNN−−−√ = 8.16 TeV using the ALICE detector. Resonances are reconstructed via their hadronic decay channels in the rapidity interval −0.5 < y < 0 and the transverse momentum spectra are measured for various multiplicity classes up to pT = 20 GeV/c for K∗(892)0 and pT = 16 GeV/c for ϕ(1020). The pT -integrated yields and mean transverse momenta are reported and compared with previous results in pp, p-Pb and Pb-Pb collisions. The xT scaling for K∗(892)0 and ϕ(1020) resonance production is newly tested in p-Pb collisions and found to hold in the high-pT region at Large Hadron Collider energies. The nuclear modification factors (RpPb) as a function of pT for K∗0 and ϕ at sNN−−−−√ = 8.16 TeV are presented along with the new RpPb measurements of K∗0, ϕ , Ξ, and Ω at sNN−−−√ = 5.02 TeV. At intermediate pT (2-8 GeV/c), RpPb of Ξ, Ω show a Cronin-like enhancement, while K∗0 and ϕ show no or little nuclear modification. At high pT (> 8 GeV/c), the RpPb values of all hadrons are consistent with unity within uncertainties. The RpPb of K∗(892)0 and ϕ(1020) at sNN−−−√ = 8.16 and 5.02 TeV show no significant energy dependence.
This article reports on the inclusive production cross section of several quarkonium states, J/ψ, ψ(2S), Υ(1S), Υ(2S), and Υ(3S), measured with the ALICE detector at the LHC, in pp collisions at s√=5.02 TeV. The analysis is performed in the dimuon decay channel at forward rapidity (2.5<y<4). The integrated cross sections and transverse-momentum (pT) and rapidity (y) differential cross sections for J/ψ, ψ(2S), Υ(1S), and the ψ(2S)-to-J/ψ cross section ratios are presented. The integrated cross sections, assuming unpolarized quarkonia, are: σJ/ψ(pT<20 GeV/c) = 5.88 ± 0.03 ± 0.34 μb, σψ(2S)(pT<12 GeV/c) = 0.87 ± 0.06 ± 0.10 μb, σΥ(1S)(pT<15 GeV/c) = 45.5 ± 3.9 ± 3.5 nb, σΥ(2S)(pT<15 GeV/c) = 22.4 ± 3.2 ± 2.7 nb, and σΥ(3S)(pT<15 GeV/c) = 4.9 ± 2.2 ± 1.0 nb, where the first (second) uncertainty is the statistical (systematic) one. For the first time, the cross sections of the three Υ states, as well as the ψ(2S) one as a function of pT and y, are measured at s√=5.02 TeV at forward rapidity. These measurements also significantly extend the J/ψ pT reach and supersede previously published results. A comparison with ALICE measurements in pp collisions at s√=2.76, 7, 8, and 13 TeV is presented and the energy dependence of quarkonium production cross sections is discussed. Finally, the results are compared with the predictions from several production models.
Measurements of anisotropic flow coefficients (vn) and their cross-correlations using two- and multi-particle cumulant methods are reported in collisions of pp at s√=13 TeV, p-Pb at sNN−−−√=5.02 TeV, Xe-Xe at sNN−−−√=5.44 TeV, and Pb-Pb at sNN−−−√=5.02 TeV recorded with the ALICE detector. These measurements are performed as a function of multiplicity in the mid-rapidity region |η|<0.8 for the transverse momentum range 0.2<pT<3.0 GeV/c. An ordering of the coefficients v2>v3>v4 is found in pp and p-Pb collisions, similar to that seen in large collision systems, while a weak v2 multiplicity dependence is observed relative to nucleus--nucleus collisions in the same multiplicity range. Using the novel subevent method, v2 measured in pp and p-Pb collisions with four-particle cumulants is found to be compatible with that from six-particle cumulants. The symmetric cumulants SC(m,n) calculated with the subevent method which evaluate the correlation strength between v2n and v2m are also presented. The presented data, which add further support to the existence of long-range multi-particle azimuthal correlations in high multiplicity pp and p-Pb collisions, can neither be described by PYTHIA8 nor by IP-Glasma+MUSIC+UrQMD model calculations, and hence provide new insights into the understanding of collective effects in small collision systems.
The event-by-event correlations between three flow amplitudes are measured for the first time in Pb--Pb collisions, using higher-order Symmetric Cumulants. We find that different three-harmonic correlations develop during the collective evolution of the medium, when compared with correlations that exist in the initial state. These new results cannot be interpreted in terms of previous lower-order flow measurements, since contributions from two-harmonic correlations are explicitly removed in the new observables. Comparison with Monte Carlo simulations provides new and independent constraints for the initial conditions and system properties of nuclear matter created in heavy-ion collisions.
The pT-differential production cross sections of prompt D0, Λ+c, and Σ0,++c(2455) charmed hadrons are measured at midrapidity (|y|<0.5) in pp collisions at s√=13 TeV. This is the first measurement of Σ0,++c production in hadronic collisions. Assuming the same production yield for the three Σ0,+,++c isospin states, the baryon-to-meson cross section ratios Σ0,+,++c/D0 and Λ+c/D0 are calculated in the transverse momentum (pT) intervals 2<pT<12 GeV/c and 1<pT<24 GeV/c. Values significantly larger than in e+e− collisions are observed, indicating for the first time that baryon enhancement in hadronic collisions also extends to the Σc. The feed-down contribution to Λ+c production from Σ0,+,++c is also reported and is found to be larger than in e+e− collisions. The data are compared with predictions from event generators and other phenomenological models, providing a sensitive test of the different charm-hadronisation mechanisms implemented in the models.
The pT-differential cross sections of prompt charm-strange baryons Ξ0c and Ξ+c were measured at midrapidity (|y|<0.5) in proton−proton (pp) collisions at a centre-of-mass energy s√=13 TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The Ξ0c baryon was reconstructed via both the semileptonic decay (Ξ−e+νe) and the hadronic decay (Ξ−π+) channels. The Ξ+c baryon was reconstructed via the hadronic decay (Ξ−π+π+) channel. The branching-fraction ratio BR(Ξ0c→Ξ−e+νe)/BR(Ξ0c→Ξ−π+) = 1.38 ± 0.14 (stat) ± 0.22 (syst) was measured with a total uncertainty reduced by a factor of about 3 with respect to the current world average reported by the Particle Data Group. The transverse momentum (pT) dependence of the Ξ0c- and Ξ+c-baryon production relative to the D0-meson and to the Σ0,+,++c- and Λ+c-baryon production are reported. The baryon-to-meson ratio increases towards low pT up to a value of approximately 0.3. The measurements are compared with various models that take different hadronisation mechanisms into consideration. The results provide stringent constraints to these theoretical calculations and additional evidence that different processes are involved in charm hadronisation in electron−positron (e+e−) and hadronic collisions.
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 pp 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.
The transverse-momentum (pT) spectra and coalescence parameters B2 of (anti)deuterons are measured in p-p collisions at √s=13 TeV for the first time in and out of jets. In this measurement, the direction of the leading particle with the highest pT in the event (p lead T>5 GeV/c) is used as an approximation for the jet axis. The event is consequently divided into three azimuthal regions, and the jet signal is obtained as the difference between the toward region, that contains jet fragmentation products in addition to the underlying event (UE), and the transverse region, which is dominated by the UE. The coalescence parameter in the jet is found to be approximately a factor of 10 larger than that in the underlying event. This experimental observation is consistent with the coalescence picture and can be attributed to the smaller average phase-space distance between nucleons in the jet cone as compared with the underlying event. The results presented in this Letter are compared to predictions from a simple nucleon coalescence model, where the phase-space distributions of nucleons are generated using pythia8 with the Monash 2013 tuning, and to predictions from a deuteron production model based on ordinary nuclear reactions with parametrized energy-dependent cross sections tuned on data. The latter model is implemented in pythia8.3. Both models reproduce the observed large difference between in-jet and out-of-jet coalescence parameters, although the almost flat trend of the BJet2 is not reproduced by the models, which instead give a decreasing trend.
The study of nuclei and antinuclei production has proven to be a powerful tool to investigate the formation mechanism of loosely bound states in high-energy hadronic collisions. The first measurement of the production of 3ΛH in p-Pb collisions at sNN−−−√ = 5.02 TeV is presented in this Letter. Its production yield measured in the rapidity interval −1<y<0 for the 40% highest multiplicity p-Pb collisions is dN/dy=[6.3±1.8(stat.)±1.2(syst.)]×10−7. The measurement is compared with the expectations of statistical hadronisation and coalescence models, which describe the nucleosynthesis in hadronic collisions. These two models predict very different yields of the hypertriton in small collision systems such as p-Pb and therefore the measurement of dN/dy is crucial to distinguish between them. The precision of this measurement leads to the exclusion with a significance larger than 6σ of some configurations of the statistical hadronisation, thus constraining the production mechanism of loosely bound states.
Neutral pion and η meson production in the transverse momentum range 1 < pT < 20 GeV/c have been measured at mid-rapidity by the ALICE experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in central and semi-central Pb-Pb collisions at sNN−−−−√ = 2.76 TeV. These results were obtained using the photon conversion method as well as the PHOS and EMCal detectors. The results extend the upper pT reach of the previous ALICE π0 measurements from 12 GeV/c to 20 GeV/c and present the first measurement of η meson production in heavy-ion collisions at the LHC. The η/π0 ratio is similar for the two centralities and reaches at high pT a plateau value of 0.457 ± 0.013stat ± 0.018syst. A suppression of similar magnitude for π0 and η meson production is observed in Pb-Pb collisions with respect to their production in pp collisions scaled by the number of binary nucleon-nucleon collisions. We discuss the results in terms of NLO pQCD predictions and hydrodynamic models. The measurements show a stronger suppression with respect to what was observed at lower center-of-mass energies in the pT range 6 < pT < 10 GeV/c. At pT < 3 GeV/c, hadronization models describe the π0 results while for the η some tension is observed.
Measurements of inclusive and direct photon production at mid-rapidity in pp collisions at s√=2.76 and 8 TeV are presented by the ALICE experiment at the LHC. The results are reported in transverse momentum ranges of 0.4<pT<10 GeV/c and 0.3<pT<16 GeV/c, respectively. Photons are detected with the electromagnetic calorimeter~(EMCal) and via reconstruction of e+e− pairs from conversions in the ALICE detector material using the central tracking system. For the final measurement of the inclusive photon spectra the results are combined in the overlapping pT interval of both methods. Direct photon spectra, or their upper limits at 90% C.L. are extracted using the direct photon excess ratio Rγ, which quantifies the ratio of inclusive photons over decay photons generated with a decay-photon simulation. An additional hybrid method, combining photons reconstructed from conversions with those identified in the EMCal, is used for the combination of the direct photon excess ratio Rγ, as well as the extraction of direct photon spectra or their upper limits. While no significant signal of direct photons is seen over the full pT range, Rγ for pT>7 GeV/c is at least one σ above unity and consistent with expectations from next-to-leading order pQCD calculations.
The production of the ρ(770)0 meson has been measured at mid-rapidity (|y|<0.5) in pp and centrality differential Pb-Pb collisions at sNN−−−√ = 2.76 TeV with the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The particles have been reconstructed in the ρ(770)→π+π− decay channel in the transverse momentum (pT) range 0.5−11 GeV/c. A centrality dependent suppression of the ratio of the integrated yields 2ρ(770)0/(π++π−) is observed. The ratio decreases by ∼40% from pp to central Pb-Pb collisions. A study of the pT-differential 2ρ(770)0/(π++π−) ratio reveals that the suppression occurs at low transverse momenta, pT<2 GeV/c. At higher momentum, particle ratios measured in heavy-ion and pp collisions are consistent. The observed suppression is very similar to that previously measured for the K∗(892)0/K ratio and is consistent with EPOS3 predictions that may imply that rescattering in the hadronic phase is a dominant mechanism for the observed suppression.
The production yield of the Λ(1520) baryon resonance is measured at mid-rapidity in Pb-Pb collisions at sNN−−−√ = 2.76 TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The measurement is performed in the Λ(1520)→pK− (and charge conjugate) hadronic decay channel as a function of the transverse momentum (pT) and collision centrality. The pT-integrated production rate of Λ(1520) relative to Λ in central collisions is suppressed by about a factor of 2 with respect to peripheral collisions. This is the first observation of the suppression of a baryonic resonance at the LHC and the first 3σ evidence of Λ(1520) suppression within a single collision system. The measured Λ(1520)/Λ ratio in central collisions is smaller than the value predicted by the statistical hadronisation model calculations. The shape of the measured pT distribution and the centrality dependence of the suppression are reproduced by the EPOS3 Monte Carlo event generator. The measurement adds further support to the formation of a dense hadronic phase in the final stages of the evolution of the fireball created in heavy-ion collisions, lasting long enough to cause a significant reduction in the observable yield of short-lived resonances.
The cross section of jets reconstructed from charged particles is measured in the transverse momentum range of 5<pT<100 GeV/c in pp collisions at the center-of-mass energy of s√=5.02 TeV with the ALICE detector. The jets are reconstructed using the anti-kT algorithm with resolution parameters R=0.2, 0.3, 0.4, and 0.6 in the pseudorapidity range |η|<0.9−R. The charged jet cross sections are compared with the leading order (LO) and to next-to-leading order (NLO) perturbative Quantum ChromoDynamics (pQCD) calculations. It was found that the NLO calculations agree better with the measurements. The cross section ratios for different resolution parameters were also measured. These ratios increase from low pT to high pT and saturate at high pT, indicating that jet collimation is larger at high pT than at low pT. These results provide a precision test of pQCD predictions and serve as a baseline for the measurement in Pb−Pb collisions at the same energy to quantify the effects of the hot and dense medium created in heavy-ion collisions at the LHC.
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.
The global polarization of the Λ and Λ¯¯¯¯ hyperons is measured for Pb-Pb collisions at sNN−−−√ = 2.76 and 5.02 TeV recorded with the ALICE at the LHC. The results are reported differentially as a function of collision centrality and hyperon's transverse momentum (pT) for the range of centrality 5-50%, 0.5<pT<5 GeV/c, and rapidity |y|<0.5. The hyperon global polarization averaged for Pb-Pb collisions at sNN−−−√ = 2.76 and 5.02 TeV is found to be consistent with zero, ⟨PH⟩ (%) ≈ - 0.01 ± 0.05 (stat.) ± 0.03 (syst.) in the collision centrality range 15-50%, where the largest signal is expected. The results are compatible with expectations based on an extrapolation from measurements at lower collision energies at RHIC, hydrodynamical model calculations, and empirical estimates based on collision energy dependence of directed flow, all of which predict the global polarization values at LHC energies of the order of 0.01%.
In the original paper, the sign used to determine the global polarization PH was opposite to the convention used in previous papers, particularly, published by the STAR Collaboration to which the results are compared to in Fig. 5. The correct version of Eq. (3) in the paper for PH is...
This article reports measurements of the pT-differential inclusive jet cross-section in pp collisions at s√ = 5.02 TeV and the pT-differential inclusive jet yield in Pb-Pb 0-10% central collisions at sNN−−−√ = 5.02 TeV. Jets were reconstructed at mid-rapidity with the ALICE tracking detectors and electromagnetic calorimeter using the anti-kT algorithm. For pp collisions, we report jet cross-sections for jet resolution parameters R=0.1−0.6 over the range 20<pT,jet<140 GeV/c, as well as the jet cross-section ratios of different R, and comparisons to two next-to-leading-order (NLO)-based theoretical predictions. For Pb-Pb collisions, we report the R=0.2 and R=0.4 jet spectra for 40<pT,jet<140 GeV/c and 60<pT,jet<140 GeV/c, respectively. The scaled ratio of jet yields observed in Pb-Pb to pp collisions, RAA, is constructed, and exhibits strong jet quenching and a clear pT-dependence for R=0.2. No significant R-dependence of the jet RAA is observed within the uncertainties of the measurement. These results are compared to several theoretical predictions.
The first measurement at the LHC of charge-dependent directed flow (v1) relative to the spectator plane is presented for Pb-Pb collisions at sNN−−−√ = 5.02 TeV. Results are reported for charged hadrons and D0 mesons for the transverse momentum intervals pT>0.2 GeV/c and 3<pT< 6 GeV/c in the 5-40% and 10-40% centrality classes, respectively. The difference between the positively and negatively charged hadron v1 has a positive slope as a function of pseudorapidity η, dΔv1/dη=[1.68 ± 0.49 (stat.) ± 0.41 (syst.)] ×10−4. The same measurement for D0 and D¯0 mesons yields a positive value dΔv1/dη= [4.9 ± 1.7 (stat.) ± 0.6 (syst.)]×10−1, which is about three orders of magnitude larger than the one of the charged hadrons. These measurements can provide new insights into the effects of the strong electromagnetic field and the initial tilt of matter created in non-central heavy-ion collisions on the dynamics of light (u, d, and s) and heavy (c) quarks. The large difference between the observed Δv1 of charged hadrons and D0 mesons may reflect different sensitivity of the charm and light quarks to the early time dynamics of a heavy-ion collision. These observations challenge some of the recent theoretical calculations, which predicted a negative and an order of magnitude smaller value of dΔv1/dη for both light-flavour and charmed hadrons.
The Quark Gluon Plasma (QGP) produced in ultra relativistic heavy-ion collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) can be studied by measuring the modifications of jets formed by hard scattered partons which interact with the medium. We studied these modifications via angular correlations of jets with charged hadrons for jets with momenta 20 < pjetT < 40 GeV/c as a function of the associated particle momentum. The reaction plane fit (RPF) method is used in this analysis to remove the flow modulated background. The analysis of angular correlations for different orientations of the jet relative to the second order event plane allows for the study of the path length dependence of medium modifications to jets. We present the dependence of azimuthal angular correlations of charged hadrons with respect to the angle of the axis of a reconstructed jet relative to the event plane in Pb-Pb collisions at sNN−−−√ = 2.76 TeV. The dependence of particle yields associated with jets on the angle of the jet with respect to the event plane is presented. Correlations at different angles relative to the event plane are compared through ratios and differences of the yield. No dependence of the results on the angle of the jet with respect to the event plane is observed within uncertainties, which is consistent with no significant path length dependence of the medium modifications for this observable.
The production of K∗(892)0 and ϕ(1020) in pp collisions at s√ = 8 TeV was measured using Run 1 data collected by the ALICE collaboration at the LHC. The pT-differential yields d2N/dydpT in the range 0<pT<20 GeV/c for K∗0 and 0.4<pT<16 GeV/c for ϕ have been measured at midrapidity, |y|<0.5. Moreover, improved measurements of the K∗(892)0 and ϕ(1020) at s√=7TeV are presented. The collision energy dependence of pT distributions, pT-integrated yields and particle ratios in inelastic pp collisions are examined. The results are also compared with different collision systems. The values of the particle ratios are found to be similar to those measured at other LHC energies. In pp collisions a hardening of the particle spectra is observed with increasing energy, but at the same time it is also observed that the relative particle abundances are independent of the collision energy. The pT-differential yields of K∗0 and ϕ in pp collisions at s√=8 TeV are compared with the expectations of different Monte Carlo event generators.
A study of multiplicity and pseudorapidity distributions of inclusive photons measured in pp and p−Pb collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon−nucleon collision of sNN−−−√=5.02 TeV using the ALICE detector in the forward pseudorapidity region 2.3<ηlab<3.9 is presented. Measurements in p−Pb collisions are reported for two beam configurations in which the directions of the proton and lead ion beam were reversed. The pseudorapidity distributions in p−Pb collisions are obtained for seven centrality classes which are defined based on different event activity estimators, i.e., the charged-particle multiplicity measured at midrapidity as well as the energy deposited in a calorimeter at beam rapidity. The inclusive photon multiplicity distributions for both pp and p−Pb collisions are described by double negative binomial distributions. The pseudorapidity distributions of inclusive photons are compared to those of charged particles at midrapidity in \pp collisions and for different centrality classes in p−Pb collisions. The results are compared to predictions from various Monte Carlo event generators. None of the generators considered in this paper reproduces the inclusive photon multiplicity distributions in the reported multiplicity range. The pseudorapidity distributions are, however, better described by the same generators.
In this Letter, the first measurement of the inelastic cross section for antitriton−nucleus interactions is reported, covering the momentum range of 0.8≤p<2.4 GeV/c. The measurement is carried out using data recorded with the ALICE detector in pp and Pb−Pb collisions at a centre-of-mass energy per nucleon of 13 TeV and 5.02 TeV, respectively. The detector material serves as an absorber for antitriton nuclei. The raw yield of (anti)triton nuclei measured with the ALICE apparatus is compared to the results from detailed ALICE simulations based on the GEANT4 toolkit for the propagation of (anti)particles through matter, allowing one to quantify the inelastic interaction probability in the detector material. This analysis complements the measurement of the inelastic cross section of antinuclei up to A=3 carried out by the ALICE Collaboration, and demonstrates the feasibility of the study of the isospin dependence of inelastic interaction cross section with the analysis techniques presented in this Letter.
In this Letter, we report the first measurement of the antideuteron inelastic cross section at low particle momenta, covering a range of 0.3≤p<4 GeV/c. The measurement is carried out using p-Pb collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon-nucleon pair of sNN−−−√ = 5.02 TeV, recorded with the ALICE detector at the CERN LHC and utilizing the detector material as an absorber for antideuterons and antiprotons. The extracted raw primary antiparticle-to-particle ratios are compared to the results from detailed ALICE simulations based on the GEANT4 toolkit for the propagation of antiparticles through the detector material. The analysis of the raw primary (anti)proton spectra serves as a benchmark for this study, since their hadronic interaction cross sections are well constrained experimentally. The first measurement of the antideuteron inelastic cross section averaged over the ALICE detector material with atomic mass numbers ⟨A⟩ = 17.4 and 31.8 is obtained. The measured inelastic cross section points to a possible excess with respect to the Glauber model parameterization in the lowest momentum interval of 0.3≤p<0.47 GeV/c up to a factor 2.1. This result is relevant for the understanding of antimatter propagation and the contributions to antinuclei production from cosmic ray interactions within the interstellar medium. In addition, the momentum range covered by this measurement is of particular importance to evaluate signal predictions for indirect dark-matter searches.
The first measurements of the scattering parameters of ΛK pairs in all three charge combinations (ΛK+, ΛK−, and ΛK0S) are presented. The results are achieved through a femtoscopic analysis of ΛK correlations in Pb-Pb collisions at sNN−−−√ = 2.76 TeV recorded by ALICE at the LHC. The femtoscopic correlations result from strong final-state interactions, and are fit with a parametrization allowing for both the characterization of the pair emission source and the measurement of the scattering parameters for the particle pairs. Extensive studies with the THERMINATOR 2 event generator provide a good description of the non-femtoscopic background, which results mainly from collective effects, with unprecedented precision. Furthermore, together with HIJING simulations, this model is used to account for contributions from residual correlations induced by feed-down from particle decays. The extracted scattering parameters indicate that the strong force is repulsive in the ΛK+ interaction and attractive in the ΛK− interaction. The data hint that the and ΛK0S interaction is attractive, however the uncertainty of the result does not permit such a decisive conclusion. The results suggest an effect arising either from different quark-antiquark interactions between the pairs (ss¯ in ΛK+ and uu¯¯¯ in ΛK−) or from different net strangeness for each system (S = 0 for ΛK+, and S = −2 for ΛK−). Finally, the ΛK systems exhibit source radii larger than expected from extrapolation from identical particle femtoscopic studies. This effect is interpreted as resulting from the separation in space-time of the single-particle Λ and K source distributions.
The first measurements of dielectron production at midrapidity (|ηc|<0.8) in proton-proton and proton-lead collisions at sNN−−−√ = 5.02 TeV at the LHC are presented. The dielectron cross section is measured with the ALICE detector as a function of the invariant mass mee and the pair transverse momentum pT,ee in the ranges mee < 3.5 GeV/c2 and pT,ee < 8.0 GeV/c2, in both collision systems. In proton-proton collisions, the charm and beauty cross sections are determined at midrapidity from a fit to the data with two different event generators. This complements the existing dielectron measurements performed at s√ = 7 and 13 TeV. The slope of the s√ dependence of the three measurements is described by FONLL calculations. The dielectron cross section measured in proton-lead collisions is in agreement, within the current precision, with the expected dielectron production without any nuclear matter effects for e+e− pairs from open heavy-flavor hadron decays. For the first time at LHC energies, the dielectron production in proton-lead and proton-proton collisions are directly compared at the same sNN−−−√ via the dielectron nuclear modification factor RpPb. The measurements are compared to model calculations including cold nuclear matter effects, or additional sources of dielectrons from thermal radiation.
The elliptic flow of electrons from beauty hadron decays at midrapidity (|y| < 0.8) is measured in Pb-Pb collisions at sNN−−−√ = 5.02 TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The azimuthal distribution of the particles produced in the collisions can be parameterized with a Fourier expansion, in which the second harmonic coefficient represents the elliptic flow, v2. The v2 coefficient of electrons from beauty-hadron decays is measured for the first time in the transverse momentum (pT) range 1.3-6 GeV/c in the centrality class 30-50%. The measurement of electrons from beauty-hadron decays exploits their larger mean proper decay length cτ≈ 500 μm compared to that of charm hadrons and most of the other background sources. The v2 of electrons from beauty hadron decays at midrapidity is found to be positive with a significance of 3.75σ. The results provide insights on the degree of thermalization of beauty quarks in the medium. A model assuming full thermalization of beauty quarks is strongly disfavoured by the measurement at high pT, but is in agreement with the results at low pT. Transport models including substantial interactions of beauty quarks with an expanding strongly-interacting medium describe the measurement.
Correction to: Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-3001-6Published online 09 December 2020
In Fig. 1c of this Article, owing to an error during the production process, the equation incorrectly began ‘C(k*, r*) = …’ instead of ‘C(k*) = …’. In addition, in affiliation 71 ‘Dipartimento di Fisica dell’Università degli studi di Bari Aldo Moro’ has been corrected to read ‘Dipartimento di Fisica dell’Università degli studi di Cagliari’. The original Article has been corrected online.
A measurement of dielectron production in proton-proton (pp) collisions at s√=13 TeV, recorded with the ALICE detector at the CERN LHC, is presented in this Letter. The data set was recorded with a reduced magnetic solenoid field. This enables the investigation of a kinematic domain at low dielectron invariant mass mee and pair transverse momentum pT,ee that was previously inaccessible at the LHC. The cross section for dielectron production is studied as a function of mee, pT,ee, and event multiplicity dNch/dη. The expected dielectron rate from hadron decays, called hadronic cocktail, utilizes a parametrization of the measured η/π0 ratio in pp and proton-nucleus (p-A) collisions, assuming that this ratio shows no strong dependence on collision energy at low transverse momentum. Comparison of the measured dielectron yield to the hadronic cocktail at 0.15<mee<0.6 GeV/c2 and for pT,ee<0.4 GeV/c indicates an enhancement of soft dielectrons, reminiscent of the 'anomalous' soft-photon and -dilepton excess in hadron-hadron collisions reported by several experiments under different experimental conditions. The enhancement factor over the hadronic cocktail amounts to 1.61±0.13(stat.)±0.17(syst.,data)±0.34(syst.,cocktail) in the ALICE acceptance. Acceptance-corrected excess spectra in mee and pT,ee are extracted and compared with calculations of dielectron production from hadronic bremsstrahlung and thermal radiation within a hadronic many-body approach.
This paper presents isolated photon-hadron correlations using pp and p-Pb data collected by the ALICE detector at the LHC. For photons with |η| < 0.67 and 12 < pT < 40 GeV/c, the associated yield of charged particles in the range |η| < 0.80 and 0.5 < pT < 10 GeV/c is presented. These momenta are much lower than previous measurements at the LHC. No significant difference between pp and p-Pb is observed, with PYTHIA 8.2 describing both data sets within uncertainties. This measurement constrains nuclear effects on the parton fragmentation in p-Pb collisions, and provides a benchmark for future studies of Pb-Pb collisions.
The measurements of the (anti)deuterons elliptic flow (v2) and the first measurements of triangular flow (v3) in Pb-Pb collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon-nucleon collisions sNN−−−√ = 5.02 TeV are presented. A mass ordering at low transverse momentum (pT) is observed when comparing these measurements with those of other identified hadrons, as expected from relativistic hydrodynamics. The measured (anti)deuterons v2 lies between the predictions from the simple coalescence and blast-wave models, which provide a good description of the data only for more peripheral and for more central collisions, respectively. The mass number scaling, which is violated for v2, is approximately valid for the (anti)deuterons v3. The measured v2 and v3 are also compared with the predictions from a coalescence approach with phase-space distributions of nucleons generated by iEBE-VISHNU with AMPT initial conditions coupled with UrQMD, and from a dynamical model based on relativistic hydrodynamics coupled to the hadronic afterburner SMASH. The model predictions are consistent with the data within the uncertainties in mid-central collisions, while a deviation is observed in central centrality intervals.
Λ+c production and baryon-to-meson ratios in pp and p–Pb collisions at √sNN = 5.02 TeV at the LHC
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The prompt production of the charm baryon Λ+c and the Λ+c/D0 production ratios were measured at midrapidity with the ALICE detector in pp and p-Pb collisions at sNN−−−√=5.02TeV. These new measurements show a clear decrease of the Λ+c/D0 ratio with increasing transverse momentum (pT) in both collision systems in the range 2<pT<12 GeV/c, exhibiting similarities with the light-flavour baryon-to-meson ratios p/π and Λ/K0S. At low pT, predictions that include additional colour-reconnection mechanisms beyond the leading-colour approximation; assume the existence of additional higher-mass charm-baryon states; or include hadronisation via coalescence can describe the data, while predictions driven by charm-quark fragmentation processes measured in e+e− and e−p collisions significantly underestimate the data. The results presented in this letter provide significant evidence that the established assumption of universality (colliding-system independence) of parton-to-hadron fragmentation is not sufficient to describe charm-baryon production in hadronic collisions at LHC energies.
The production cross section of prompt Λ+c charm baryons was measured with the ALICE detector at the LHC at midrapidity in proton-proton (pp) and proton-lead (p-Pb) collisions at a centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of sNN−−−√=5.02 TeV. The Λ+c and Λ¯¯¯¯−c baryons were reconstructed in the hadronic decay channels Λ+c→pK−π+ and Λ+c→pK0S and respective charge conjugates. The measured differential cross sections as a function of transverse momentum (pT) and the pT-integrated Λ+c production cross section in pp and in p-Pb collisions are presented. The Λ+c nuclear modification factor (RpPb), calculated from the cross sections in pp and in p-Pb collisions, is presented and compared with the RpPb of D mesons. The Λ+c/D0 ratio is also presented and compared with the light-flavour baryon-to-meson ratios p/π and Λ/K0S, and measurements from other LHC experiments. The results are compared to predictions from model calculations and Monte Carlo event generators.
Measurements of the production of electrons from heavy-flavour hadron decays in pp collisions at s√=13 TeV at midrapidity with the ALICE detector are presented down to a transverse momentum (pT) of 0.2 GeV/c and up to pT=35 GeV/c, which is the largest momentum range probed for inclusive electron measurements in ALICE. In p−Pb collisions, the production cross section and the nuclear modification factor of electrons from heavy-flavour hadron decays are measured in the pT range 0.5<pT<26 GeV/c at sNN−−−√=8.16 TeV. The nuclear modification factor is found to be consistent with unity within the statistical and systematic uncertainties. In both collision systems, first measurements of the yields of electrons from heavy-flavour hadron decays in different multiplicity intervals normalised to the multiplicity-integrated yield (self-normalised yield) at midrapidity are reported as a function of the self-normalised charged-particle multiplicity estimated at midrapidity. The self-normalised yields in pp and p−Pb collisions grow faster than linear with the self-normalised multiplicity. A strong pT dependence is observed in pp collisions, where the yield of high-pT electrons increases faster as a function of multiplicity than the one of low-pT electrons. The measurement in p−Pb collisions shows no pT dependence within uncertainties. The self-normalised yields in pp and p−Pb collisions are compared with measurements of other heavy-flavour, light-flavour, and strange particles, and with Monte Carlo simulations.
The correlations between different moments of two flow amplitudes, extracted with the recently developed asymmetric cumulants, are measured in Pb-Pb collisions at √sNN = 5.02 TeV recorded by the ALICE detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The magnitudes of the measured observables show a dependence on the different moments as well as on the collision centrality, indicating the presence of nonlinear response in all even moments up to the eighth. Furthermore, the higher-order asymmetric cumulants show different signatures than the symmetric and lower-order asymmetric cumulants. Comparisons with state-of-the-art event generators using two different parametrizations obtained from Bayesian optimization show differences between data and simulations in many of the studied observables, indicating a need for further tuning of the models behind those event generators. These results provide new and independent constraints on the initial conditions and transport properties of the system created in heavy-ion collisions.
The production of π±, K±, and (p¯¯¯)p is measured in pp collisions at s√=13 TeV in different topological regions. Particle transverse momentum (pT) spectra are measured in the ``toward'', ``transverse'', and ``away'' angular regions defined with respect to the direction of the leading particle in the event. While the toward and away regions contain the fragmentation products of the near-side and away-side jets, respectively, the transverse region is dominated by particles from the Underlying Event (UE). The relative transverse activity classifier, RT=NT/⟨NT⟩, is used to group events according to their UE activity, where NT is the measured charged-particle multiplicity per event in the transverse region and ⟨NT⟩ is the mean value over all the analysed events. The first measurements of identified particle pT spectra as a function of RT in the three topological regions are reported. The yield of high transverse momentum particles relative to the RT-integrated measurement decreases with increasing RT in both the toward and away regions, indicating that the softer UE dominates particle production as RT increases and validating that RT can be used to control the magnitude of the UE. Conversely, the spectral shapes in the transverse region harden significantly with increasing RT. This hardening follows a mass ordering, being more significant for heavier particles. The pT-differential particle ratios (p+p¯¯¯)/(π++π−) and (K++K−)/(π++π−) in the low UE limit (RT→0) approach expectations from Monte Carlo generators such as PYTHIA 8 with Monash 2013 tune and EPOS LHC, where the jet-fragmentation models have been tuned to reproduce e+e− results.
This article reports measurements of the angle between differently defined jet axes in pp collisions at s√=5.02 TeV carried out by the ALICE Collaboration. Charged particles at midrapidity are clustered into jets with resolution parameters R=0.2 and 0.4. The jet axis, before and after Soft Drop grooming, is compared to the jet axis from the Winner-Takes-All (WTA) recombination scheme. The angle between these axes, ΔRaxis, probes a wide phase space of the jet formation and evolution, ranging from the initial high-momentum-transfer scattering to the hadronization process. The ΔRaxis observable is presented for 20<pchjetT<100 GeV/c, and compared to predictions from the PYTHIA 8 and Herwig 7 event generators. The distributions can also be calculated analytically with a leading hadronization correction related to the non-perturbative component of the Collins−Soper−Sterman (CSS) evolution kernel. Comparisons to analytical predictions at next-to-leading-logarithmic accuracy with leading hadronization correction implemented from experimental extractions of the CSS kernel in Drell−Yan measurements are presented. The analytical predictions describe the measured data within 20% in the perturbative regime, with surprising agreement in the non-perturbative regime as well. These results are compatible with the universality of the CSS kernel in the context of jet substructure.
In ultraperipheral collisions (UPCs) of relativistic nuclei without overlap of nuclear densities, the two nuclei are excited by the Lorentz-contracted Coulomb fields of their collision partners. In these UPCs, the typical nuclear excitation energy is below a few tens of MeV, and a small number of nucleons are emitted in electromagnetic dissociation (EMD) of primary nuclei, in contrast to complete nuclear fragmentation in hadronic interactions. The cross sections of emission of given numbers of neutrons in UPCs of 208Pb nuclei at sNN−−−√=5.02 TeV were measured with the neutron zero degree calorimeters (ZDCs) of the ALICE detector at the LHC, exploiting a similar technique to that used in previous studies performed at sNN−−−√=2.76 TeV. In addition, the cross sections for the exclusive emission of one, two, three, four, and five forward neutrons in the EMD, not accompanied by the emission of forward protons, and thus mostly corresponding to the production of 207,206,205,204,203Pb, respectively, were measured for the first time. The predictions from the available models describe the measured cross sections well. These cross sections can be used for evaluating the impact of secondary nuclei on the LHC components, in particular, on superconducting magnets, and also provide useful input for the design of the Future Circular Collider (FCC-hh).
The ALICE Collaboration reports a differential measurement of inclusive jet suppression using pp and Pb−Pb collision data at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon-nucleon collision sNN−−−√=5.02 TeV. Charged-particle jets are reconstructed using the anti-kT algorithm with resolution parameters R= 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, and 0.6 in pp collisions and R= 0.2, 0.4, 0.6 in central (0−10%), semi-central (30−50%), and peripheral (60−80%) Pb−Pb collisions. A novel approach based on machine learning is employed to mitigate the influence of jet background. This enables measurements of inclusive jet suppression in new regions of phase space, including down to the lowest jet pT≥40 GeV/c at R=0.6 in central Pb−Pb collisions. This is an important step for discriminating different models of jet quenching in the quark-gluon plasma. The transverse momentum spectra, nuclear modification factors, derived cross section, and nuclear modification factor ratios for different jet resolution parameters of charged-particle jets are presented and compared to model predictions. A mild dependence of the nuclear modification factor ratios on collision centrality and resolution parameter is observed. The results are compared to a variety of jet-quenching models with varying levels of agreement.
The production of K∗(892)± meson resonance is measured at midrapidity (|y|<0.5) in Pb−Pb collisions at √sNN=5.02 TeV using the ALICE detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The resonance is reconstructed via its hadronic decay channel K∗(892)±→K0Sπ±. The transverse momentum distributions are obtained for various centrality intervals in the pT range of 0.4−16 GeV/c . Measurements of integrated yields, mean transverse momenta, and particle yield ratios are reported and found to be consistent with previous ALICE measurements for K∗(892)0 within uncertainties. The pT-integrated yield ratio 2K∗(892)±/(K++K−) in central Pb−Pb collisions shows a significant suppression at a level of 9.3σ relative to pp collisions. Thermal model calculations result in an overprediction of the particle yield ratio. Although both hadron resonance gas in partial chemical equilibrium (HRG-PCE) and music + smash simulations consider the hadronic phase, only HRG-PCE accurately represents the measurements, whereas music + smash simulations tend to overpredict the particle yield ratio. These observations, along with the kinetic freeze-out temperatures extracted from the yields measured for light-flavored hadrons using the HRG-PCE model, indicate a finite hadronic phase lifetime, which decreases with increasing collision centrality percentile. The pT-differential yield ratios 2K∗(892)±/(K++K−) and 2K∗(892)±/(π++π−) are presented and compared with measurements in pp collisions at √s=5.02 TeV. Both pa rticle ratios are found to be suppressed by up to a factor of five at pT<2.0 GeV/c in central Pb−Pb collisions and are qualitatively consistent with expectations for rescattering effects in the hadronic phase. The nuclear modification factor (RAA) shows a smooth evolution with centrality and is found to be below unity at pT>8 GeV/c, consistent with measurements for other light-flavored hadrons. The smallest values are observed in most central collisions, indicating larger energy loss of partons traversing the dense medium.
A new, more precise measurement of the Λ hyperon lifetime is performed using a large data sample of Pb–Pb collisions at √sNN p ¼ 5.02 TeV with ALICE. The Λ and Λ¯ hyperons are reconstructed at midrapidity using their two-body weak decay channel Λ → p þ π− and Λ¯ → p¯ þ πþ. The measured value of the Λ lifetime is τΛ ¼ ½261.07 0.37ðstat:Þ 0.72ðsyst:Þ ps. The relative difference between the lifetime of Λ and Λ¯ , which represents an important test of CPT invariance in the strangeness sector, is also measured. The obtained value ðτΛ − τΛ¯Þ=τΛ ¼ 0.0013 0.0028ðstat:Þ 0.0021ðsyst:Þ is consistent with zero within the uncertainties. Both measurements of the Λ hyperon lifetime and of the relative difference between τΛ and τΛ¯ are in agreement with the corresponding world averages of the Particle Data Group and about a factor of three more precise.
The inclusive production of the charm-strange baryon Ω0c is measured for the first time via its semileptonic decay into Ω−e+νe at midrapidity (|y| < 0.8) in proton–proton (pp) collisions at the centre-of-mass energy √s = 13 TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The transverse momentum (pT) differential cross section multiplied by the branching ratio is presented in the interval 2 < pT < 12 GeV/c. The branching-fraction ratio BR(Ω0c → Ω−e+νe)/BR(Ω0c → Ω−π+) is measured to be 1.12 ± 0.22 (stat.) ± 0.27 (syst.). Comparisons with other experimental measurements, as well as with theoretical calculations, are presented.
The measurement of the production of deuterons, tritons and 3He and their antiparticles in Pb-Pb collisions at √sNN = 5.02 TeV is presented in this article. The measurements are carried out at midrapidity (y|< 0.5) as a function of collision centrality using the ALICE detector. The pT-integrated yields, the coalescence parameters and the ratios to protons and antiprotons are reported and compared with nucleosynthesis models. The comparison of these results in different collision systems at different center-of-mass collision energies reveals a suppression of nucleus production in small systems. In the Statistical Hadronisation Model framework, this can be explained by a small correlation volume where the baryon number is conserved, as already shown in previous fluctuation analyses. However, a different size of the correlation volume is required to describe the proton yields in the same data sets. The coalescence model can describe this suppression by the fact that the wave functions of the nuclei are large and the fireball size starts to become comparable and even much smaller than the actual nucleus at low multiplicities.
The knowledge of the material budget with a high precision is fundamental for measurements of direct photon production using the photon conversion method due to its direct impact on the total systematic uncertainty. Moreover, it influences many aspects of the charged-particle reconstruction performance. In this article, two procedures to determine data-driven corrections to the material-budget description in ALICE simulation software are developed. One is based on the precise knowledge of the gas composition in the Time Projection Chamber. The other is based on the robustness of the ratio between the produced number of photons and charged particles, to a large extent due to the approximate isospin symmetry in the number of produced neutral and charged pions. Both methods are applied to ALICE data allowing for a reduction of the overall material budget systematic uncertainty from 4.5% down to 2.5%. Using these methods, a locally correct material budget is also achieved. The two proposed methods are generic and can be applied to any experiment in a similar fashion.
Long- and short-range correlations for pairs of charged particles are studied via two-particle angular correlations in pp collisions at √sNN = 13 TeV and p–Pb collisions at √s = 5.02 TeV. The correlation functions are measured as a function of relative azimuthal angle ∆φ and pseudorapidity separation ∆η for pairs of primary charged particles within the pseudorapidity interval |η| < 0.9 and the transverse-momentum interval 1 < pT < 4 GeV/c. Flow coefficients are extracted for the long-range correlations (1.6 < |∆η| < 1.8) in various high-multiplicity event classes using the low-multiplicity template fit method. The method is used to subtract the enhanced yield of away-side jet fragments in high-multiplicity events. These results show decreasing flow signals toward lower multiplicity events. Furthermore, the flow coefficients for events with hard probes, such as jets or leading particles, do not exhibit any significant changes compared to those obtained from high-multiplicity events without any specific event selection criteria. The results are compared with hydrodynamic-model calculations, and it is found that a better understanding of the initial conditions is necessary to describe the results, particularly for low-multiplicity events.