Multiplicity dependence of light-flavor hadron production in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 7 TeV
Phys.Rev.
The collaboration

Abstract (data abstract)
Comprehensive results on the production of unidentified charged particles, $\pi^{\pm}$, K$^{\pm}$, K$^{0}_{\text{s}}$, K*(892)$^{0}$, p, $\bar{\text{p}}$, $\phi$(1020), $\Lambda$, $\bar{\Lambda}$, $\Xi^{-}$, $\bar{\Xi}^{+}$, $\Omega^{-}$ and $\bar{\Omega}^{+}$ hadrons in proton-proton (pp) collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 7 TeV at midrapidity ($|y| < 0.5$) as a function of charged-particle multiplicity density are presented. In order to avoid auto-correlation biases, the actual transverse momentum ($p_{\text{T}}$) spectra of the particles under study and the event activity are measured in different rapidity windows. In the highest multiplicity class, the charged-particle density reaches about 3.5 times the value measured in inelastic collisions. While the yield of protons normalized to pions remains approximately constant as a function of multiplicity, the corresponding ratios of strange hadrons to pions show a significant enhancement that increases with increasing strangeness content. Furthermore, all identified particle to pion ratios are shown to depend solely on charged-particle multiplicity density, regardless of system type and collision energy. The evolution of the spectral shapes with multiplicity and hadron mass shows patterns that are similar to those observed in p-Pb and Pb--Pb collisions at LHC energies. The obtained \pt\ distributions and yields are compared to expectations from QCD-based pp event generators as well as to predictions from thermal and hydrodynamic models. These comparisons indicate that traces of a collective, equilibrated system are already present in high-multiplicity pp collisions.