Anisotropic flow coefficients, $v_n$, non-linear flow mode coefficients, $\chi_{n,mk}$, and correlations among different symmetry planes, $\rho_{n,mk}$ are measured in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_\rm{NN}}=5.02$ TeV. Results obtained with multi-particle correlations are reported for the transverse momentum interval $0.2<p_\rm{T}<5.0$ GeV/$c$ within the pseudorapidity interval $0.4<|\eta|<0.8$ as a function of collision centrality. The $v_n$ coefficients and $\chi_{n,mk}$ and $\rho_{n,mk}$ are presented up to the ninth and seventh harmonic order, respectively. Calculations suggest that the correlations measured in different symmetry planes and the non-linear flow mode coefficients are dependent on the shear and bulk viscosity to entropy ratios of the medium created in heavy-ion collisions. The comparison between these measurements and those at lower energies and calculations from hydrodynamic models places strong constraints on the initial conditions and transport properties of the system.
The centrality dependence of the charged-particle multiplicity density at mid-rapidity in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 2.76 TeV is presented. The charged-particle density normalized per participating nucleon pair increases by about a factor 2 from peripheral (70-80%) to central (0-5%) collisions. The centrality dependence is found to be similar to that observed at lower collision energies. The data are compared with models based on different mechanisms for particle production in nuclear collisions.
We present measurements of the elliptic ($\mathrm{v}_2$), triangular ($\mathrm{v}_3$) and quadrangular ($\mathrm{v}_4$) anisotropic azimuthal flow over a wide range of pseudorapidities ($-3.5< \eta < 5$). The measurements are performed with Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\text{NN}}} = 2.76$ TeV using the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The flow harmonics are obtained using two- and four-particle correlations from nine different centrality intervals covering central to peripheral collisions. We find that the shape of $\mathrm{v}_n(\eta)$ is largely independent of centrality for the flow harmonics $n=2-4$, however the higher harmonics fall off more steeply with increasing $|\eta|$. We assess the validity of extended longitudinal scaling of $\mathrm{v}_2$ by comparing to lower energy measurements, and find that the higher harmonic flow coefficients are proportional to the charged particle densities at larger pseudorapidities. Finally, we compare our measurements to both hydrodynamical and transport models, and find they both have challenges when it comes to describing our data.
The correlations between event-by-event fluctuations of anisotropic flow harmonic amplitudes have been measured in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 2.76 TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The results are reported in terms of multiparticle correlation observables dubbed Symmetric Cumulants. These observables are robust against biases originating from nonflow effects. The centrality dependence of correlations between the higher order harmonics (the quadrangular $v_4$ and pentagonal $v_5$ flow) and the lower order harmonics (the elliptic $v_2$ and triangular $v_3$ flow) is presented. The transverse momentum dependence of correlations between $v_3$ and $v_2$ and between $v_4$ and $v_2$ is also reported. The results are compared to calculations from viscous hydrodynamics and A Multi-Phase Transport ({AMPT}) model calculations. The comparisons to viscous hydrodynamic models demonstrate that the different order harmonic correlations respond differently to the initial conditions and the temperature dependence of the ratio of shear viscosity to entropy density ($\eta/s$). A small average value of $\eta/s$ is favored independent of the specific choice of initial conditions in the models. The calculations with the AMPT initial conditions yield results closest to the measurements. Correlations between the magnitudes of $v_2$, $v_3$ and $v_4$ show moderate $p_{\rm T}$ dependence in mid-central collisions. Together with existing measurements of individual flow harmonics, the presented results provide further constraints on the initial conditions and the transport properties of the system produced in heavy-ion collisions.
We report on results obtained with the Event Shape Engineering technique applied to Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_\rm{NN}}=2.76$ 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 $v_2$ to be almost independent of transverse momentum $p_\rm{T}$, as expected if this effect is due to fluctuations in the initial geometry of the system. Charged hadron, pion, kaon, and proton transverse momentum distributions are found to be harder in events with higher-than-average elliptic flow, indicating an interplay between radial and elliptic flow.
We present the first wide-range measurement of the charged-particle pseudorapidity density distribution, for different centralities (the 0-5%, 5-10%, 10-20%, and 20-30% most central events) in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76$ TeV at the LHC. The measurement is performed using the full coverage of the ALICE detectors, $-5.0 < \eta < 5.5$, and employing a special analysis technique based on collisions arising from LHC "satellite" bunches. We present the pseudorapidity density as a function of the number of participating nucleons as well as an extrapolation to the total number of produced charged particles ($N_{\rm ch} = 17165 \pm 772$ for the 0-5% most central collisions). From the measured ${\rm d}N_{\rm ch}/{\rm d}\eta$ distribution we derive the rapidity density distribution, ${\rm d}N_{\rm ch}/{\rm d}y$, under simple assumptions. The rapidity density distribution is found to be significantly wider than the predictions of the Landau model. We assess the validity of longitudinal scaling by comparing to lower energy results from RHIC. Finally the mechanisms of the underlying particle production are discussed based on a comparison with various theoretical models.
We present the charged-particle pseudorapidity density in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}=5.02\,\mathrm{Te\kern-.25exV}$ in centrality classes measured by ALICE. The measurement covers a wide pseudorapidity range from $-3.5$ to $5$, which is sufficient for reliable estimates of the total number of charged particles produced in the collisions. For the most central (0-5%) collisions we find $21\,400\pm 1\,300$ while for the most peripheral (80-90%) we find $230\pm 38$. This corresponds to an increase of $(27\pm4)\%$ over the results at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}=2.76\,\mathrm{Te\kern-.25exV}$ previously reported by ALICE. The energy dependence of the total number of charged particles produced in heavy-ion collisions is found to obey a modified power-law like behaviour. The charged-particle pseudorapidity density of the most central collisions is compared to model calculations --- none of which fully describes the measured distribution. We also present an estimate of the rapidity density of charged particles. The width of that distribution is found to exhibit a remarkable proportionality to the beam rapidity, independent of the collision energy from the top SPS to LHC energies.
We report the measured transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) spectra of primary charged particles from pp, p-Pb and Pb-Pb collisions at a center-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 5.02$ TeV in the kinematic range of $0.15<p_{\rm T}<50$ GeV/$c$ and $|\eta|< 0.8$. A significant improvement of systematic uncertainties motivated the reanalysis of data in pp and Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76$ TeV, as well as in p-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 5.02$ TeV, which is also presented. Spectra from Pb-Pb collisions are presented in nine centrality intervals and are compared to a reference spectrum from pp collisions scaled by the number of binary nucleon-nucleon collisions. For central collisions, the $p_{\rm T}$ spectra are suppressed by more than a factor of 7 around 6-7 GeV/$c$ with a significant reduction in suppression towards higher momenta up to 30 GeV/$c$. The nuclear modification factor $R_{\rm pPb}$, constructed from the pp and p-Pb spectra measured at the same collision energy, is consistent with unity above 8 GeV/$c$. While the spectra in both pp and Pb-Pb collisions are substantially harder at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 5.02$ TeV compared to 2.76 TeV, the nuclear modification factors show no significant collision energy dependence. The obtained results should provide further constraints on the parton energy loss calculations to determine the transport properties of the hot and dense QCD matter.
The inclusive transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) distributions of primary charged particles are measured in the pseudo-rapidity range $|\eta|<0.8$ as a function of event centrality in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm{NN}}}=2.76$ TeV with ALICE at the LHC. The data are presented in the $p_{\rm T}$ range $0.15<p_{\rm T}<50$ GeV/$c$ for nine centrality intervals from 70-80% to 0-5%. The Pb-Pb spectra are presented in terms of the nuclear modification factor $R_{\rm{AA}}$ using a pp reference spectrum measured at the same collision energy. We observe that the suppression of high-$p_{\rm T}$ particles strongly depends on event centrality. In central collisions (0-5%) the yield is most suppressed with $R_{\rm{AA}}\approx0.13$ at $p_{\rm T}=6$-7 GeV/$c$. Above $p_{\rm T}=7$ GeV/$c$, there is a significant rise in the nuclear modification factor, which reaches $R_{\rm{AA}} \approx0.4$ for $p_{\rm T}>30$ GeV/$c$. In peripheral collisions (70-80%), the suppression is weaker with $R_{\rm{AA}} \approx 0.7$ almost independently of $p_{\rm T}$. The measured nuclear modification factors are compared to other measurements and model calculations.
The correlations between different moments of two flow amplitudes, extracted with the recently developed asymmetric cumulants, are measured in Pb$-$Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 5.02$ 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 non-linear 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.