The ALICE collaboration at the LHC reports measurement of the inclusive production cross section of electrons from semi-leptonic decays of beauty hadrons with rapidity $|y|<0.8$ and transverse momentum $1<p_{\mathrm{T}}<10$ GeV/$c$, in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s} = $ 2.76 TeV. Electrons not originating from semi-electronic decay of beauty hadrons are suppressed using the impact parameter of the corresponding tracks. The production cross section of beauty decay electrons is compared to the result obtained with an alternative method which uses the distribution of the azimuthal angle between heavy-flavour decay electrons and charged hadrons. Perturbative QCD calculations agree with the measured cross section within the experimental and theoretical uncertainties. The integrated visible cross section, $\sigma_{\mathrm{b} \rightarrow \mathrm{e}} = 3.47\pm0.40(\mathrm{stat})^{+1.12}_{-1.33}(\mathrm{sys})\pm0.07(\mathrm{norm}) \mu$b, was extrapolated to full phase space using Fixed Order plus Next-to-Leading Log (FONLL) predictions to obtain the total b$\bar{\mathrm{b}}$ production cross section, $\sigma_{\mathrm{b\bar{b}}} = 130\pm15.1(\mathrm{stat})^{+42.1}_{-49.8}(\mathrm{sys})^{+3.4}_{-3.1}(\mathrm{extr})\pm2.5(\mathrm{norm})\pm4.4(\mathrm{BR}) \mu$b.
The production of (anti-)deuteron and (anti-)$^{3}$He nuclei in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 2.76 TeV has been studied using the ALICE detector at the LHC. The spectra exhibit a significant hardening with increasing centrality. Combined blast-wave fits of several particles support the interpretation that this behavior is caused by an increase of radial flow. The integrated particle yields are discussed in the context of coalescence and thermal-statistical model expectations. The particle ratios, $^3$He/d and $^3$He/p, in Pb-Pb collisions are found to be in agreement with a common chemical freeze-out temperature of $T_{\rm chem} \approx 156$ MeV. These ratios do not vary with centrality which is in agreement with the thermal-statistical model. In a coalescence approach, it excludes models in which nucleus production is proportional to the particle multiplicity and favors those in which it is proportional to the particle density instead. In addition, the observation of 31 anti-tritons in Pb-Pb collisions is reported. For comparison, the deuteron spectrum in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 7$ TeV is also presented. While the p/$\pi$ ratio is similar in pp and Pb-Pb collisions, the d/p ratio in pp collisions is found to be lower by a factor of 2.2 than in Pb-Pb collisions.
We present measurements of two-particle correlations with neutral pion trigger particles of transverse momenta $8 < p_{\mathrm{T}}^{\rm trig} < 16~\mathrm{GeV}/c$ and associated charged particles of $0.5 < p_{\mathrm{T}}^{\rm assoc} < 10~\mathrm{GeV}/c$ versus the azimuthal angle difference $\Delta\varphi$ at midrapidity in pp and central Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}=2.76$ TeV with ALICE. The new measurements exploit associated charged hadrons down to $0.5~\mathrm{GeV}/c$, which significantly extends our previous measurement that only used charged hadrons above $3~\mathrm{GeV}/c$. After subtracting the contributions of the flow background, $v_2$ to $v_5$, the per-trigger yields are extracted for $|\Delta\varphi|<0.7$ on the near and for $|\Delta\varphi-\pi| < 1.1$ on the away side. The ratio of per-trigger yields in Pb--Pb to those in pp collisions, $I_{\mathrm{AA}}$, is measured on the near and away side for the $0$--$10$\% most central Pb--Pb collisions. On the away side, the per-trigger yields in Pb--Pb are strongly suppressed to the level of $I_{\mathrm{AA}} \approx 0.6$ for $p_{\mathrm{T}}^{\rm assoc} > 3~\mathrm{GeV}/c$, while with decreasing momenta an enhancement develops reaching about $5$ at low $p_{\mathrm{T}}^{\rm assoc}$. On the near side, an enhancement of $I_{\mathrm{AA}}$ between $1.2$ at the highest to $1.8$ at the lowest $p_{\mathrm{T}}^{\rm assoc}$ is observed. The data are compared to parton-energy-loss predictions of the JEWEL and AMPT event generators, as well as to a perturbative QCD calculation with medium-modified fragmentation functions. All calculations qualitatively describe the away-side suppression at high $p_{\mathrm{T}}^{\rm assoc}$. Only AMPT captures the enhancement at low $p_{\mathrm{T}}^{\rm assoc}$, both on the near and away side. However, it also underpredicts $I_{\mathrm{AA}}$ above $5$ GeV/$c$, in particular on the near-side.
Transverse momentum spectra of $\pi^{\pm}$, $\rm K^{\pm}$ and p($\bar{\rm p}$) up to $p_{\rm T}$ = 20 GeV/$c$ at mid-rapidity in pp and Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=$ 2.76 TeV have been measured using the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The proton-to-pion and the kaon-to-pion ratios both show a distinct peak at $p_{\rm T} \approx 3 GeV/c$ in central Pb-Pb collisions. Below the peak, $p_{\rm T}$ < 3 GeV/$c$, both ratios are in good agreement with hydrodynamical calculations, suggesting that the peak itself is dominantly the result of radial flow rather than anomalous hadronization processes. For $p_{\rm T}$ > 10 GeV/$c$ particle ratios in pp and Pb-Pb collisions are in agreement and the nuclear modification factors for $\pi^{\pm}$, $\rm K^{\pm}$ and $\rm p$($\bar{\rm p}$) indicate that, within the systematic and statistical uncertainties, the suppression is the same. This suggests that the chemical composition of leading particles from jets in the medium is similar to that of vacuum jets.
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