We report the energy dependence of mid-rapidity (anti-)deuteron production in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_\text{NN}} =\ $7.7, 11.5, 14.5, 19.6, 27, 39, 62.4, and 200 GeV, measured by the STAR experiment at RHIC. The yield of deuterons is found to be well described by the thermal model. The collision energy, centrality, and transverse momentum dependence of the coalescence parameter $B_2$ are discussed. We find that the values of $B_2$ for anti-deuterons are systematically lower than those for deuterons, indicating that the correlation volume of anti-baryons is larger than that of baryons at $\sqrt{s_\text{NN}}$ from 19.6 to 39 GeV. In addition, values of $B_2$ are found to vary with collision energy and show a broad minimum around $\sqrt{s_\text{NN}}=\ $20 to 40 GeV, which might imply a change of the equation of state of the medium in these collisions.
The inclusive top-quark-pair production cross section $\sigma_{t\bar{t}}$ and its ratio to the $Z$-boson production cross section have been measured in proton--proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13.6$ TeV, using 29 fb${}^{-1}$ of data collected in 2022 with the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Using events with an opposite-charge electron-muon pair and $b$-tagged jets, and assuming Standard Model decays, the top-quark-pair production cross section is measured to be $\sigma_{t\bar{t}} = 850 \pm 3\mathrm{(stat.)}\pm 18\mathrm{(syst.)}\pm 20\mathrm{(lumi.)}$ pb. The ratio of the $t\bar{t}$ and the $Z$-boson production cross sections is also measured, where the $Z$-boson contribution is determined for inclusive $e^+e^-$ and $\mu^+\mu^-$ events in a fiducial phase space. The relative uncertainty on the ratio is reduced compared to the $t\bar{t}$ cross section, thanks to the cancellation of several systematic uncertainties. The result for the ratio, $R_{t\bar{t}/Z} = 1.145 \pm 0.003\mathrm{(stat.)}\pm 0.021\mathrm{(syst.)}\pm 0.002\mathrm{(lumi.)}$ is consistent with the Standard Model prediction using the PDF4LHC21 PDF set.
A search is presented for flavour-changing neutral-current interactions involving the top quark, the Higgs boson and an up-type quark ($q=u,c$) with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The analysis considers leptonic decays of the top quark along with Higgs boson decays into two $W$ bosons, two $Z$ bosons or a $\tau^{+}\tau^{-}$ pair. It focuses on final states containing either two leptons (electrons or muons) of the same charge or three leptons. The considered processes are $t\bar{t}$ and $Ht$ production. For the $t\bar{t}$ production, one top quark decays via $t\to Hq$. The proton-proton collision data set analysed amounts to 140 fb$^{-1}$ at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV. No significant excess beyond Standard Model expectations is observed and upper limits are set on the $t\to Hq$ branching ratios at 95% confidence level, amounting to observed (expected) limits of $\mathcal{B}(t\to Hu)<2.8\,(3.0) \times 10^{-4}$ and $\mathcal{B}(t\to Hc)<3.3\,(3.8) \times 10^{-4}$. Combining this search with other searches for $tHq$ flavour-changing neutral-current interactions previously conducted by ATLAS, considering $H\to b\bar{b}$ and $H\to\gamma\gamma$ decays, as well as $H\to\tau^{+}\tau^{-}$ decays with one or two hadronically decaying $\tau$-leptons, yields observed (expected) upper limits on the branching ratios of $\mathcal{B}(t\to Hu)<2.6\,(1.8) \times 10^{-4}$ and $\mathcal{B}(t\to Hc)<3.4\,(2.3) \times 10^{-4}$.
The first measurement of the coherent photoproduction of $\rho^{0}$ vector mesons in ultra-peripheral Xe-Xe collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{\rm NN}}}= 5.44$ TeV is presented. This result, together with previous HERA $\gamma$p data and $\gamma$-Pb measurements from ALICE, describes the atomic number ($A$) dependence of this process, which is particularly sensitive to nuclear shadowing effects and to the approach to the black-disc limit of QCD at a semi-hard scale. The cross section of the ${\rm Xe}+{\rm Xe} \to \rho^{0} + {\rm Xe}+{\rm Xe}$ process, measured at midrapidity through the decay channel $\rho^{0}\to\pi^+\pi^-$, is found to be ${\rm d}\sigma/{\rm d}y=131.5\pm 5.6 {\rm (stat.)} ^{+17.5}_{-16.9} {\rm (syst.)}$ mb. The ratio of the continuum to resonant contributions for the production of pion pairs is also measured. In addition, the fraction of events accompanied by electromagnetic dissociation of either one or both colliding nuclei is reported. The dependence on $A$ of cross section for the coherent $\rho^{0}$ photoproduction at a centre-of-mass energy per nucleon of the $\gamma A$ system of $W_{\gamma A,n}= 65$ GeV is found to be consistent with a power-law behaviour $\sigma (\gamma A\rightarrow \rho^{0} A) \propto A^{\alpha}$ with a slope $\alpha = 0.96 \pm 0.02 {\rm (syst.)}$. This slope signals important shadowing effects, but it is still far from the behaviour expected in the black-disc limit.
The transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) differential cross section of the charm-strange baryon $\Xi^0_{\rm c}$ is measured at midrapidity ($|y|<$ 0.5) via its semileptonic decay into ${\rm e^{+}}\Xi^{-}\nu_{\rm e}$ in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 5.02 TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The ratio of the $p_{\rm T}$-differential $\Xi^0_{\rm c}$-baryon and ${\rm D^0}$-meson production cross sections is also reported. The measurements are compared with simulations with different tunes of the PYTHIA 8 event generator, with predictions from a statistical hadronisation model (SHM) with a largely augmented set of charm-baryon states beyond the current lists of the Particle Data Group, and with models including hadronisation via quark coalescence. The $p_{\rm T}$-integrated cross section of prompt $\Xi^0_{\rm c}$-baryon production at midrapidity is also reported, which is used to calculate the baryon-to-meson ratio $\Xi^0_{\rm c}/{\rm D^0} = 0.20 \pm 0.04~{\rm (stat.)} ^{+0.08}_{-0.07}~{\rm (syst.)}$. These results provide an additional indication of a modification of the charm fragmentation from $\rm e^+e^-$ and $\rm e^{-}p$ collisions to pp collisions.
The inclusive production of the J/$\psi$ and $\psi$(2S) charmonium states is studied as a function of centrality in p-Pb collisions at a centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 8.16$ TeV at the LHC. The measurement is performed in the dimuon decay channel with the ALICE apparatus in the centre-of-mass rapidity intervals $-4.46 < y_{\rm cms} < -2.96$ (Pb-going direction) and $2.03 < y_{\rm cms} < 3.53$ (p-going direction), down to zero transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$). The J/$\psi$ and $\psi$(2S) production cross sections are evaluated as a function of the collision centrality, estimated through the energy deposited in the zero degree calorimeter located in the Pb-going direction. The $p_{\rm T}$-differential J/$\psi$ production cross section is measured at backward and forward rapidity for several centrality classes, together with the corresponding average $\langle p_{\rm T} \rangle$ and $\langle p^{2}_{\rm T} \rangle$ values. The nuclear effects affecting the production of both charmonium states are studied using the nuclear modification factor. In the p-going direction, a suppression of the production of both charmonium states is observed, which seems to increase from peripheral to central collisions. In the Pb-going direction, however, the centrality dependence is different for the two states: the nuclear modification factor of the J/$\psi$ increases from below unity in peripheral collisions to above unity in central collisions, while for the $\psi$(2S) it stays below or consistent with unity for all centralities with no significant centrality dependence. The results are compared with measurements in p-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 5.02$ TeV and no significant dependence on the energy of the collision is observed. Finally, the results are compared with theoretical models implementing various nuclear matter effects.
Neutral pion ($\pi^{0}$) and $\eta$ meson production cross sections were measured up to unprecedentedly high transverse momenta ($p_{\rm T}$) in p-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 8.16 TeV. The mesons were reconstructed via their two-photon decay channel in the rapidity interval $-1.3< y <0.3$ in the ranges of $0.4
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.
This paper presents the first measurements of the charge independent (CI) and charge dependent (CD) two-particle transverse momentum correlators $G_{2}^{\rm CI}$ and $G_{2}^{\rm CD}$ in Pb--Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\text{NN}}} = 2.76\;\text{\TeVe}$ by the ALICE collaboration. The two-particle transverse momentum correlator $G_{2}$ was introduced as a measure of the momentum current transfer between neighbouring system cells. The correlators are measured as a function of pair separation in pseudorapidity ($\Delta \eta$) and azimuth ($\Delta \varphi$) and as a function of collision centrality. From peripheral to central collisions, the correlator $G_{2}^{\rm CI}$ exhibits a longitudinal broadening while undergoing a monotonic azimuthal narrowing. By contrast, $G_{2}^{\rm CD}$ exhibits a narrowing along both dimensions. These features are not reproduced by models such as HIJING and AMPT. However, the observed narrowing of the correlators from peripheral to central collisions is expected to result from the stronger transverse flow profiles produced in more central collisions and the longitudinal broadening is predicted to be sensitive to momentum currents and the shear viscosity per unit of entropy density $\eta/s$ of the matter produced in the collisions. The observed broadening is found to be consistent with the hypothesized lower bound of $\eta/s$ and is in qualitative agreement with values obtained from anisotropic flow measurements.
Inclusive $\psi$(2S) production is measured in p-Pb collisions at the centre-of-mass energy per nucleon-nucleon pair $\sqrt{s_{\rm{NN}}}=8.16$ TeV, using the ALICE detector at the CERN LHC. The production of $\psi$(2S) is studied at forward ($2.03 < y_{\rm cms} < 3.53$) and backward ($-4.46 < y_{\rm cms} < -2.96$) centre-of-mass rapidity and for transverse momentum $p_{\rm{T}}$ $<$ 12 GeV/$c$ via the decay to muon pairs. In this paper, we report the integrated as well as the $y_{\rm cms}$- and $p_{\rm T}$-differential inclusive production cross sections. Nuclear effects on $\psi$(2S) production are studied via the determination of the nuclear modification factor that shows a strong suppression at both forward and backward centre-of-mass rapidities. Comparisons with corresponding results for inclusive J/$\psi$ show a similar suppression for the two states at forward rapidity (p-going direction), but a stronger suppression for $\psi$(2S) at backward rapidity (Pb-going direction). As a function of $p_{\rm T}$, no clear dependence of the nuclear modification factor is found. The relative size of nuclear effects on $\psi$(2S) production compared to J/$\psi$ is also studied via the double ratio of production cross sections $[\sigma_{\psi(2S)}/\sigma_{\rm{J/}\psi}]_{\rm pPb}/[\sigma_{\psi(2S)}/\sigma_{\rm{J/}\psi}]_{\rm pp}$ between p-Pb and pp collisions. The results are compared with theoretical models that include various effects related to the initial and final state of the collision system and also with previous measurements at $\sqrt{s_{\rm{NN}}}$ = 5.02 TeV.
Forum