The production of K_short mesons in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 0.9 TeV is studied with the LHCb detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The luminosity of the analysed sample is determined using a novel technique, involving measurements of the beam currents, sizes and positions, and is found to be 6.8 +/- 1.0 microbarn^-1. The differential prompt K_short production cross-section is measured as a function of the K_short transverse momentum and rapidity in the region 0 < pT < 1.6 GeV/c and 2.5 < y < 4.0. The data are found to be in reasonable agreement with previous measurements and generator expectations.
The production of B+- mesons in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV is studied using 35 pb-1 of data collected by the LHCb detector. The B+- mesons are reconstructed exclusively in the B+- -> J/psi K+- mode, with J/psi -> mu+ mu-. The differential production cross-section is measured as a function of the B+- transverse momentum in the fiducial region 0 < pT < 40 GeV/c and with rapidity 2.0 < y < 4.5. The total cross-section, summing up B+ and B-, is measured to be sigma(pp -> B+- X, 0 < pT < 40 GeV/c, 2.0 < y < 4.5) = 41.4 +- 1.5 (stat.) +- 3.1 (syst.) mub.
The cross-section for inclusive phi meson production in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV has been measured with the LHCb detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The differential cross-section is measured as a function of the phi transverse momentum p_T and rapidity y in the region 0.6 < p_T < 5.0 GeV/c and 2.44 < y < 4.06. The cross-section for inclusive phi production in this kinematic range is sigma(pp -> phi X) = 1758 pm 19(stat) ^{+43}_{-14}(syst) pm 182(scale) microbarn, where the first systematic uncertainty depends on the p_T and y region and the second is related to the overall scale. Predictions based on the Pythia 6.4 generator underestimate the cross-section.
A precision measurement of the $Z$ boson production cross-section at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV in the forward region is presented, using $pp$ collision data collected by the LHCb detector, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.1 fb$^{-1}$. The production cross-section is measured using $Z\rightarrow\mu^+\mu^-$ events within the fiducial region defined as pseudorapidity $2.0<\eta<4.5$ and transverse momentum $p_{T}>20$ GeV/$c$ for both muons and dimuon invariant mass $60<M_{\mu\mu}<120$ GeV/$c^2$. The integrated cross-section is determined to be $\sigma (Z \rightarrow \mu^+ \mu^-)$ = 196.4 $\pm$ 0.2 $\pm$ 1.6 $\pm$ 3.9~pb, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second is systematic, and the third is due to the luminosity determination. The measured results are in agreement with theoretical predictions within uncertainties.