Suppression of Λ(1520) resonance production in central Pb-Pb collisions at sNN=2.76 TeV
The production yield of the Λ(1520) baryon resonance is measured at midrapidity in Pb-Pb collisions at sNN = 2.76 TeV with the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider (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 ratio of the pT-integrated production of Λ(1520) baryons relative to Λ baryons 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 mea…
Measurement of ϒ(1S) Elliptic Flow at Forward Rapidity in Pb-Pb Collisions at sNN=5.02 TeV
The first measurement of the Υ(1S) elliptic flow coefficient (v2) is performed at forward rapidity (2.5 < y < 4) in Pb–Pb collisions at √sNN=5.02 TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The results are obtained with the scalar product method and are reported as a function of transverse momentum (pT) up to 15 GeV/c in the 5%–60% centrality interval. The measured Υ(1S)v2 is consistent with 0 and with the small positive values predicted by transport models within uncertainties. The v2 coefficient in 2 < pT < 15 GeV/c is lower than that of inclusive J/ψ mesons in the same pT interval by 2.6 standard deviations. These results, combined with earlier suppression measurements, are in agreement with…
Flow dominance and factorization of transverse momentum correlations in Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC
Physical review letters 118(16), 162302 (2017). doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.162302
First Observation of an Attractive Interaction between a Proton and a Cascade Baryon
Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. 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 stand…
Measurement of transverse energy at midrapidity in Pb-Pb collisions atsNN=2.76TeV
We report the transverse energy ($E_{\mathrm T}$) measured with ALICE at midrapidity in Pb-Pb collisions at ${\sqrt{s_{\mathrm {NN}}}}$ = 2.76 TeV as a function of centrality. The transverse energy was measured using identified single particle tracks. The measurement was cross checked using the electromagnetic calorimeters and the transverse momentum distributions of identified particles previously reported by ALICE. The results are compared to theoretical models as well as to results from other experiments. The mean $E_{\mathrm T}$ per unit pseudorapidity ($\eta$), $\langle $d$E_{\mathrm T}/$d$\eta \rangle$, in 0-5% central collisions is 1737 $\pm$ 6(stat.) $\pm$ 97(sys.) GeV. We find a si…
Anisotropic Flow of Charged Particles in Pb-Pb Collisions atsNN=5.02 TeV
We report the first results of elliptic (v2), triangular (v3), and quadrangular (v4) flow of charged particles in Pb-Pb collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of √sNN=5.02 TeV with the ALICE detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The measurements are performed in the central pseudorapidity region |η|<0.8 and for the transverse momentum range 0.2<pT<5 GeV/c. The anisotropic flow is measured using two-particle correlations with a pseudorapidity gap greater than one unit and with the multiparticle cumulant method. Compared to results from Pb-Pb collisions at √sNN=2.76 TeV, the anisotropic flow coefficients v2, v3, and v4 are found to increase by (3.0±0.6)%, (4.3±1.4)%, …
Measurement of electrons from semileptonic heavy-flavor hadron decays inppcollisions ats=2.76 TeV
The pT-differential production cross section of electrons from semileptonic decays of heavy-flavor hadrons has been measured at midrapidity in proton-proton collisions at s=2.76TeV in the transverse momentum range 0.5<pT<12GeV/c with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The analysis was performed using minimum bias events and events triggered by the electromagnetic calorimeter. Predictions from perturbative QCD calculations agree with the data within the theoretical and experimental uncertainties.
Multi-particle azimuthal correlations in p-Pb and Pb-Pb collisions at the CERN Large Hadron Collider
Measurements of multi-particle azimuthal correlations (cumulants) for charged particles in p-Pb and Pb-Pb collisions are presented. They help address the question of whether there is evidence for global, flow-like, azimuthal correlations in the p-Pb system. Comparisons are made to measurements from the larger Pb-Pb system, where such evidence is established. In particular, the second harmonic two-particle cumulants are found to decrease with multiplicity, characteristic of a dominance of few-particle correlations in p-Pb collisions. However, when a $|\Delta \eta|$ gap is placed to suppress such correlations, the two-particle cumulants begin to rise at high-multiplicity, indicating the prese…
Investigations of Anisotropic Flow Using Multiparticle Azimuthal Correlations in pp , p−Pb , Xe-Xe, and Pb-Pb Collisions at the LHC
Measurements of anisotropic flow coefficients (vn) and their cross-correlations using two- and multiparticle cumulant methods are reported in collisions of pp at √s=13 TeV, p−Pb at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair √sNN=5.02 TeV, Xe-Xe at √sNN=5.44 TeV, and Pb-Pb at √sNN=5.02 TeV recorded with the ALICE detector. The multiplicity dependence of vn is studied in a very wide range from 20 to 3000 particles produced in the midrapidity region |η| 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 a novel subevent method, v…
Neutral pion and η meson production at midrapidity in Pb-Pb collisions at sNN=2.76 TeV
Neutral pion and η meson production in the transverse momentum range 1 <pT< 20 GeV/c have been measured at midrapidity by the ALICE experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in central and semicentral Pb-Pb collisions at sNN = 2.76 TeV. These results were obtained using the photon conversion method as well as the Photon Spectrometer (PHOS) and Electromagnetic Calorimeter detectors. The results extend the upper pT reach of the previous ALICE π0 measurements from 12 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 ± 0.018sys…
Azimuthally Differential Pion Femtoscopy in Pb-Pb Collisions at sNN=2.76 TeV
We present the first azimuthally differential measurements of the pion source size relative to the second harmonic event plane in Pb-Pb collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon-nucleon pair of √sNN = 2.76 TeV. The measurements have been performed in the centrality range 0%-50% and for pion pair transverse momenta 0.2 < kT < 0.7 GeV/c. We find that the Rside and Rout radii, which characterize the pion source size in the directions perpendicular and parallel to the pion transverse momentum, oscillate out of phase, similar to what was observed at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. The final-state source eccentricity, estimated via Rside oscillations, is found to be significantly sma…
One-dimensional charged kaon femtoscopy in p -Pb collisions at sNN = 5.02 TeV
The correlations of identical charged kaons were measured in p-Pb collisions at √sNN=5.02 TeV by the ALICE experiment at the LHC. The femtoscopic invariant radii and correlation strengths were extracted from one-dimensional kaon correlation functions and were compared with those obtained in pp and Pb-Pb collisions at √s=7 TeV and √sNN=2.76 TeV, respectively. The presented results also complement the identical-pion femtoscopic data published by the ALICE collaboration. The extracted radii increase with increasing charged-particle multiplicity and decrease with increasing pair transverse momentum. At comparable multiplicities, the radii measured in p-Pb collisions are found to be close to tho…
Centrality Dependence of the Charged-Particle Multiplicity Density at Midrapidity in Pb-Pb Collisions atsNN=5.02 TeV
The pseudorapidity density of charged particles, dNch/dη, at midrapidity in Pb-Pb collisions has been measured at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of √sNN=5.02 TeV. For the 5% most central collisions, we measure a value of 1943 ± 54. The rise in dNch/dη as a function of √sNN p is steeper than that observed in proton-proton collisions and follows the trend established by measurements at lower energy. The increase of dNch/dη as a function of the average number of participant nucleons, ⟨Npart⟩, calculated in a Glauber model, is compared with the previous measurement at √sNN=2.76 TeV. A constant factor of about 1.2 describes the increase in dNch/dη from √sNN=2.76 to 5.02 TeV for all cen…
Determination of the event collision time with the ALICE detector at the LHC
The European physical journal / Plus 132(2), 99 (2017). doi:10.1140/epjp/i2017-11279-1
Two-particle differential transverse momentum and number density correlations in p−Pb collisions at 5.02 TeV and Pb-Pb collisions at 2.76 TeV at the CERN Large Hadron Collider
The production cross section and the transverse momentum distribution of charged particles is measured in pp collisions at √s = 2.76 TeV, 5.02 TeV, 7 TeV and 13 TeV, as well as for Pb-Pb collision at √s_NN = 5.02 TeV and Xe-Xe at √s_NN = 5.44 TeV in ALICE at the LHC. The measurement is performed in the transverse momentum region of 0.15 results show a faster-than-linear increase with the center-of-mass energy and follow a similar trend with respect to previous measurements. The analysis of the p_T spectra in multiplicity intervals show a weak center-of-mass energy dependence when they are compared to their respective inelastic (INEL) pp measurement. The average multiplicity as a function of…
Measurement of an Excess in the Yield ofJ/ψat Very LowpTin Pb–Pb Collisions atsNN=2.76 TeV
We report on the first measurement of an excess in the yield of J/ψ at very low transverse momentum (pT< 0.3 GeV/c) in peripheral hadronic Pb-Pb collisions at √sNN = 2.76 TeV, performed by ALICE at the CERN LHC. Remarkably, the measured nuclear modification factor of J/ψ in the rapidity range 2.5< y< 4 reaches about 7 (2) in the pT range 0- 0.3 GeV/c in the 70-90% (50-70%) centrality class. The J/ψ production cross section associated with the observed excess is obtained under the hypothesis that coherent photoproduction of J/ψ is the underlying physics mechanism. If confirmed, the observation of J/ψ coherent photoproduction in Pb-Pb collisions at impact parameters smaller than twice the nuc…
Event-shape engineering for inclusive spectra and elliptic flow in Pb-Pb collisions atsNN=2.76TeV
We report on results obtained with the event-shape engineering technique applied to Pb-Pb collisions at √sNN=2.76 TeV. By selecting events in the same centrality interval, but with very different average flow, different initial-state conditions can be studied. We find the effect of the event-shape selection on the elliptic flow coefficient v2 to be almost independent of transverse momentum pT, which is as expected if this effect is attributable to fluctuations in the initial geometry of the system. Charged-hadron, -pion, -kaon, and -proton transverse momentum distributions are found to be harder in events with higher-than-average elliptic flow, indicating an interplay between radial and ell…
K*(892)0 and ϕ(1020) meson production at high transverse momentum in pp and Pb-Pb collisions at sNN=2.76 TeV
The yields of the K*(892)(0) and phi(1020) resonances are measured in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN) = 2.76 TeV through their hadronic decays using the ALICE detector. The measurements are performed in multiple centrality intervals at mid-rapidity (vertical bar y vertical bar <0.5) in the transverse-momentum ranges 0.3 <p(T) <5 GeV/c for the K*(892)(0) and 0.5 <p(T) <5 GeV/c for the phi(1020). The yields of K*(892)(0) are suppressed in central Pb-Pb collisions with respect to pp and peripheral Pb-Pb collisions (perhaps due to rescattering of its decay products in the hadronic medium), while the longer-lived phi(1020) meson is not suppressed. These particles are also used as probes to study …
Correlated Event-by-Event Fluctuations of Flow Harmonics in Pb-Pb Collisions at sNN=2.76 TeV
We report the measurements of correlations between event-by-event fluctuations of amplitudes of anisotropic flow harmonics in nucleus-nucleus collisions, obtained for the first time using a new analysis method based on multiparticle cumulants in mixed harmonics. This novel method is robust against systematic biases originating from non-flow effects and by construction any dependence on symmetry planes is eliminated. We demonstrate that correlations of flow harmonics exhibit a better sensitivity to medium properties than the individual flow harmonics. The new measurements are performed in Pb-Pb collisions at the centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of $\sqrt{s_{_{\rm NN}}}=2.76$ TeV by the…
Particle identification in ALICE: a Bayesian approach
We present a Bayesian approach to particle identification (PID) within the ALICE experiment. The aim is to more effectively combine the particle identification capabilities of its various detectors. After a brief explanation of the adopted methodology and formalism, the performance of the Bayesian PID approach for charged pions, kaons and protons in the central barrel of ALICE is studied. PID is performed via measurements of specific energy loss ($\mathrm{d}E/\mathrm{d}x$) and time-of-flight. PID efficiencies and misidentification probabilities are extracted and compared with Monte Carlo simulations using high-purity samples of identified particles in the decay channels ${\rm K}^0_S \righta…
Centrality dependence of particle production inp−Pbcollisions atsNN=5.02TeV
We report measurements of the primary charged-particle pseudorapidity density and transverse momentum distributions in p-Pb collisions at root s(NN) = 5.02 TeV and investigate their correlation with experimental observables sensitive to the centrality of the collision. Centrality classes are defined by using different event-activity estimators, i.e., charged-particle multiplicities measured in three different pseudorapidity regions as well as the energy measured at beam rapidity (zero degree). The procedures to determine the centrality, quantified by the number of participants (N-part) or the number of nucleon-nucleon binary collisions (N-coll) are described. We show that, in contrast to Pb…
Centrality dependence of the nuclear modification factor of charged pions, kaons, and protons in Pb-Pb collisions atsNN=2.76TeV
Transverse momentum (pT) spectra of pions, kaons, and protons up to pT=20GeV/c have been measured in Pb-Pb collisions at √sNN=2.76TeV using the ALICE detector for six different centrality classes covering 0%–80%. The proton-to-pion and the kaon-to-pion ratios both show a distinct peak at pT≈3GeV/c in central Pb-Pb collisions that decreases for more peripheral collisions. For pT>10GeV/c, the nuclear modification factor is found to be the same for all three particle species in each centrality interval within systematic uncertainties of 10%–20%. This suggests there is no direct interplay between the energy loss in the medium and the particle species composition in the hard core of the quenched…