A combination of measurements of the inclusive top-quark pair production cross-section performed by ATLAS and CMS in proton-proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV at the LHC is presented. The cross-sections are obtained using top-quark pair decays with an opposite-charge electron-muon pair in the final state and with data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 5 fb$^{-1}$ at $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV and about 20 fb$^{-1}$ at $\sqrt{s}=8$ TeV for each experiment. The combined cross-sections are determined to be $178.5 \pm 4.7$ pb at $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV and $243.3^{+6.0}_{-5.9}$ pb at $\sqrt{s}=8$ TeV with a correlation of 0.41, using a reference top-quark mass value of 172.5 GeV. The ratio of the combined cross-sections is determined to be $R_{8/7}= 1.363\pm 0.032$. The combined measured cross-sections and their ratio agree well with theory calculations using several parton distribution function (PDF) sets. The values of the top-quark pole mass (with the strong coupling fixed at 0.118) and the strong coupling (with the top-quark pole mass fixed at 172.5 GeV) are extracted from the combined results by fitting a next-to-next-to-leading-order plus next-to-next-to-leading-log QCD prediction to the measurements. Using a version of the NNPDF3.1 PDF set containing no top-quark measurements, the results obtained are $m_t^\text{pole} = 173.4^{+1.8}_{-2.0}$ GeV and $\alpha_\text{s}(m_Z)= 0.1170^{+ 0.0021}_{-0.0018}$.
Full covariance matrix including all systematic uncertainties expressed as nuisance parameters. With the exception of the cross section parameters, all parameters were normalised to 1 before the fit. Therefore, the diagonal elements represent the constraint in quadrature.
Full covariance matrix including all systematic uncertainties expressed as nuisance parameters. With the exception of the cross section parameters, all parameters were normalised to 1 before the fit. Therefore, the diagonal elements represent the constraint in quadrature.
Azimuthal anisotropy of produced particles is one of the most important observables used to access the collective properties of the expanding medium created in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. In this paper, we present second ($v_{2}$) and third ($v_{3}$) order azimuthal anisotropies of $K_{S}^{0}$, $\phi$, $\Lambda$, $\Xi$ and $\Omega$ at mid-rapidity ($|y|<$1) in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\text{NN}}}$ = 54.4 GeV measured by the STAR detector. The $v_{2}$ and $v_{3}$ are measured as a function of transverse momentum and centrality. Their energy dependence is also studied. $v_{3}$ is found to be more sensitive to the change in the center-of-mass energy than $v_{2}$. Scaling by constituent quark number is found to hold for $v_{2}$ within 10%. This observation could be evidence for the development of partonic collectivity in 54.4 GeV Au+Au collisions. Differences in $v_{2}$ and $v_{3}$ between baryons and anti-baryons are presented, and ratios of $v_{3}$/$v_{2}^{3/2}$ are studied and motivated by hydrodynamical calculations. The ratio of $v_{2}$ of $\phi$ mesons to that of anti-protons ($v_{2}(\phi)/v_{2}(\bar{p})$) shows centrality dependence at low transverse momentum, presumably resulting from the larger effects from hadronic interactions on anti-proton $v_{2}$.
$v_{2}(p_{T})$ for $K_{S}^{0}$ (Centrality:0-10%)
$v_{2}(p_{T})$ for $K_{S}^{0}$ (Centrality:10-40%)
$v_{2}(p_{T})$ for $K_{S}^{0}$ (Centrality:40-80%)
The interpretation of cosmic antiproton flux measurements from space-borne experiments is currently limited by the knowledge of the antiproton production cross-section in collisions between primary cosmic rays and the interstellar medium. Using collisions of protons with an energy of 6.5 TeV incident on helium nuclei at rest in the proximity of the interaction region of the LHCb experiment, the ratio of antiprotons originating from antihyperon decays to prompt production is measured for antiproton momenta between 12 and 110 GeV/c. The dominant antihyperon contribution, namely $\bar{\Lambda} \to \bar{p} \pi^+$ decays from promptly produced $\bar{\Lambda}$ particles, is also exclusively measured. The results complement the measurement of prompt antiproton production obtained from the same data sample. At the energy scale of this measurement, the antihyperon contributions to antiproton production are observed to be significantly larger than predictions of commonly used hadronic production models.
Ratio of the antihyperon decays to prompt antiproton production (R_Hbar) in collisions of 6.5 TeV protons on He nuclei at rest in antiproton momentum and transverse momentum intervals. The average momentum and transverse momentum, as predicted by the EPOS-LHC generator for prompt antiprotons, are also listed for each interval. The uncertainty is split into an uncorrelated component, denoted with delta_uncorr, and a component that is fully correlated among the kinematic intervals, denoted delta_corr.
Ratio of the Lbar decays to prompt antiproton production (R_Lbar) in collisions of 6.5 TeV protons on He nuclei at rest in antiproton momentum and transverse momentum intervals. The average momentum and transverse momentum, as predicted by the EPOS-LHC generator for prompt antiprotons, are also listed for each interval. The uncertainty is split into an uncorrelated component, denoted with delta_uncorr, and a component that is fully correlated among the kinematic intervals, denoted delta_corr.
The production of prompt $D^0$ mesons in proton-lead collisions in the forward and backward configurations at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}} = 8.16~\mathrm{TeV}$ is measured by the LHCb experiment. The nuclear modification factor of prompt $D^0$ mesons is determined as a function of the transverse momentum $p_\mathrm{T}$, and rapidity in the nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass frame $y^*$. In the forward rapidity region, significantly suppressed production with respect to $pp$ collisions is measured, which provides significant constraints of nuclear parton distributions and hadron production down to the very low Bjorken-$x$ region of $\sim 10^{-5}$. In the backward rapidity region, a suppression with a significance of 2.0 - 3.8 standard deviations compared to nPDF expectations is found in the kinematic region of $p_\mathrm{T}>6~\mathrm{GeV}/c$ and $-3.25
Double-differential cross-sections for prompt $D^0$ mesons in intervals of $p_\mathrm{T}$ and $y^\ast$ in forward rapidity regions.
Double-differential cross-sections for prompt $D^0$ mesons in intervals of $p_\mathrm{T}$ and $y^\ast$ in forward rapidity regions.
Double-differential cross-sections for prompt $D^0$ mesons in intervals of $p_\mathrm{T}$ and $y^\ast$ in backward rapidity regions.
Polarized proton-proton collisions provide leading-order access to gluons, presenting an opportunity to constrain gluon spin-momentum correlations within transversely polarized protons and enhance our understanding of the three-dimensional structure of the proton. Midrapidity open-heavy-flavor production at $\sqrt{s}=200$ GeV is dominated by gluon-gluon fusion, providing heightened sensitivity to gluon dynamics relative to other production channels. Transverse single-spin asymmetries of positrons and electrons from heavy-flavor hadron decays are measured at midrapidity using the PHENIX detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. These charge-separated measurements are sensitive to gluon correlators that can in principle be related to gluon orbital angular momentum via model calculations. Explicit constraints on gluon correlators are extracted for two separate models, one of which had not been constrained previously.
Data from Figure 1 of open heavy flavor $e^{\pm}$ transverse single-spin asymmetries in transversely polarized p+p collisions as a function of $p_{T}$.
The first measurement of the ${\rm e}^{+}{\rm e}^{-}$ pair production at low lepton pair transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T,ee}$) and low invariant mass ($m_{\rm ee}$) in non-central Pb$-$Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 5.02$ TeV at the LHC is presented. The dielectron production is studied with the ALICE detector at midrapidity ($|\eta_{\rm e}| < 0.8$) as a function of invariant mass ($0.4 \leq m_{\rm ee} < 2.7$ GeV/$c^2$) in the 50$-$70% and 70$-$90% centrality classes for $p_{\rm T,ee} < 0.1$ GeV/$c$, and as a function of $p_{\rm T,ee}$ in three $m_{\rm ee}$ intervals in the most peripheral Pb$-$Pb collisions. Below a $p_{\rm T,ee}$ of 0.1 GeV/$c$, a clear excess of ${\rm e}^{+}{\rm e}^{-}$ pairs is found compared to the expectations from known hadronic sources and predictions of thermal radiation from the medium. The $m_{\rm ee}$ excess spectra are reproduced, within uncertainties, by different predictions of the photon$-$photon production of dielectrons, where the photons originate from the extremely strong electromagnetic fields generated by the highly Lorentz-contracted Pb nuclei. Lowest-order quantum electrodynamic (QED) calculations, as well as a model that takes into account the impact-parameter dependence of the average transverse momentum of the photons, also provide a good description of the $p_{\rm T,ee}$ spectra. The measured $\sqrt{\langle p_{\rm T,ee}^{2} \rangle}$ of the excess $p_{\rm T,ee}$ spectrum in peripheral Pb$-$Pb collisions is found to be comparable to the values observed previously at RHIC in a similar phase-space region.
Differential $e^+e^-$ yield in 50--70\% Pb--Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV as a function of $m_{\rm ee}$ for $p_{\rm T,ee} < 0.1$ GeV/$c$. Electrons are measured within $|\eta_{\rm e}| < 0.8$ and $p_{\rm T,e} > 0.2$ GeV/$c$. The quoted upper limits correspond to a 90% confidence level.
Differential $e^+e^-$ yield in 70--90\% Pb--Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV as a function of $m_{\rm ee}$ for $p_{\rm T,ee} < 0.1$ GeV/$c$. Electrons are measured within $|\eta_{\rm e}| < 0.8$ and $p_{\rm T,e} > 0.2$ GeV/$c$.
Differential excess $e^+e^-$ yield in 50--70\% Pb--Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV as a function of $m_{\rm ee}$ for $p_{\rm T,ee} < 0.1$ GeV/$c$. Electrons are measured within $|\eta_{\rm e}| < 0.8$ and $p_{\rm T,e} > 0.2$ GeV/$c$. The quoted upper limits correspond to a 90% confidence level.
We report about the properties of the underlying event measured with ALICE at the LHC in pp and p$-$Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=5.02$ TeV. The event activity, quantified by charged-particle number and summed-$p_{\rm T}$ densities, is measured as a function of the leading-particle transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}^{\rm trig}$). These quantities are studied in three azimuthal-angle regions relative to the leading particle in the event: toward, away, and transverse. Results are presented for three different $p_{\rm T}$ thresholds (0.15, 0.5, and 1 GeV/$c$) at mid-pseudorapidity ($|\eta|<0.8$). The event activity in the transverse region, which is the most sensitive to the underlying event, exhibits similar behaviour in both pp and p$-$Pb collisions, namely, a steep increase with $p_{\rm T}^{\rm trig}$ for low $p_{\rm T}^{\rm trig}$, followed by a saturation at $p_{\rm T}^{\rm trig} \approx 5$ GeV/$c$. The results from pp collisions are compared with existing measurements at other centre-of-mass energies. The quantities in the toward and away regions are also analyzed after the subtraction of the contribution measured in the transverse region. The remaining jet-like particle densities are consistent in pp and p$-$Pb collisions for $p_{\rm T}^{\rm trig}>10$ GeV/$c$, whereas for lower $p_{\rm T}^{\rm trig}$ values the event activity is slightly higher in p$-$Pb than in pp collisions. The measurements are compared with predictions from the PYTHIA 8 and EPOS LHC Monte Carlo event generators.
Fig. 4: Number density $N_{\rm ch}$ (left) and $\Sigma p_{\rm T}$ (right) distributions as a function of $p_{\rm T}^{\rm trig}$ in Transverse, Away, and Toward regions for $p_{\rm T} >$ 0.5 GeV/$c$. The shaded areas and the error bars around the data points represent the systematic and statistical uncertainties, respectively.
Fig. 5: Number density $N_{\rm ch}$ (left) and $\Sigma p_{\rm T}$ (right) distributions as a function of $p_{\rm T}^{\rm trig}$ in Transverse, Away, and Toward regions for $p_{\rm T} >$ 0.5 GeV/$c$. The shaded areas and the error bars around the data points represent the systematic and statistical uncertainties, respectively.
Fig. 6a: Number density $N_{\rm ch}$ (left) and $\Sigma p_{\rm T}$ (right) distributions as a function of $p_{\rm T}^{\rm trig}$ in Away and Toward regions after the subtraction of Number density $N_{\rm ch}$ and $\Sigma p_{\rm T}$ distributions in the transverse region for pp collisions for $p_{\rm T} >$ 0.5 GeV/$c$. The shaded areas and the error bars around the data points represent the systematic and statistical uncertainties, respectively.
The first measurement of event-by-event antideuteron number fluctuations in high energy heavy-ion collisions is presented. The measurements are carried out at midrapidity ($|\eta| < 0.8$) as a function of collision centrality in Pb$-$Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 5.02$ TeV using the ALICE detector. A significant negative correlation between the produced antiprotons and antideuterons is observed in all collision centralities. The results are compared with coalescence calculations, which fail to describe the measurement, in particular if a correlated production of protons and neutrons is assumed. Thermal-statistical model calculations describe the data within uncertainties only for correlation volumes that are different with respect to those describing proton yields and a similar measurement of net-proton number fluctuations.
Second order to first order cumulant ratio of the $\overline{d}$ multiplicity distribution as a function of collision centrality in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV.
Pearson correlation between the measured $\overline{p}$ and $\overline{d}$ as a function of collision centrality in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV.
Dependence of $\overline{p}$-$\overline{d}$ correlation on pseudorapidity acceptance of $\overline{p}$ and $\overline{d}$ selection in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV. Results are for 0.0--10.0$\%$ collision centrality.
Notwithstanding decades of progress since Yukawa first developed a description of the force between nucleons in terms of meson exchange, a full understanding of the strong interaction remains a major challenge in modern science. One remaining difficulty arises from the non-perturbative nature of the strong force, which leads to the phenomenon of quark confinement at distances on the order of the size of the proton. Here we show that in relativistic heavy-ion collisions, where quarks and gluons are set free over an extended volume, two species of produced vector (spin-1) mesons, namely $\phi$ and $K^{*0}$, emerge with a surprising pattern of global spin alignment. In particular, the global spin alignment for $\phi$ is unexpectedly large, while that for $K^{*0}$ is consistent with zero. The observed spin-alignment pattern and magnitude for the $\phi$ cannot be explained by conventional mechanisms, while a model with a connection to strong force fields, i.e. an effective proxy description within the Standard Model and Quantum Chromodynamics, accommodates the current data. This connection, if fully established, will open a potential new avenue for studying the behaviour of strong force fields.
Global spin alignment of $\phi$ and $K^{*0}$ vector mesons in heavy-ion collisions. The measured matrix element $\rho_{00}$ as a function of beam energy for the $\phi$ and $K^{*0}$ vector mesons within the indicated windows of centrality, transverse momentum ($p_T$) and rapidity ($y$). The open symbols indicate ALICE results for Pb+Pb collisions at 2.76 TeV at $p_{T}$ values of 2.0 and 1.4 GeV/c for the $\phi$ and $K^{*0}$ mesons, respectively, corresponding to the $p_{T}$ bin nearest to the mean $p_{T}$ for the 1.0 – 5.0 GeV/$c$ range assumed for each meson in the present analysis. The red solid curve is a fit to data in the range of $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 19.6$ to 200 GeV, based on a theoretical calculation with a $\phi$-meson field. Parameter sensitivity of $\rho_{00}$ to the $\phi$-meson field is shown in Ref.5. The red dashed line is an extension of the solid curve with the fitted parameter $G_s^{(y)}$. The black dashed line represents $\rho_{00}=1/3.$
Global spin alignment of $\phi$ and $K^{*0}$ vector mesons in heavy-ion collisions. The measured matrix element $\rho_{00}$ as a function of beam energy for the $\phi$ and $K^{*0}$ vector mesons within the indicated windows of centrality, transverse momentum ($p_T$) and rapidity ($y$). The open symbols indicate ALICE results for Pb+Pb collisions at 2.76 TeV at $p_{T}$ values of 2.0 and 1.4 GeV/c for the $\phi$ and $K^{*0}$ mesons, respectively, corresponding to the $p_{T}$ bin nearest to the mean $p_{T}$ for the 1.0 – 5.0 GeV/$c$ range assumed for each meson in the present analysis. The red solid curve is a fit to data in the range of $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 19.6$ to 200 GeV, based on a theoretical calculation with a $\phi$-meson field. Parameter sensitivity of $\rho_{00}$ to the $\phi$-meson field is shown in Ref.5. The red dashed line is an extension of the solid curve with the fitted parameter $G_s^{(y)}$. The black dashed line represents $\rho_{00}=1/3.$
Example of combinatorial background subtracted invariant mass distributions and the extracted yields as a function of $\cos \theta^*$ for $\phi$ and $K^{*0}$ mesons. \textbf{a)} example of $\phi \rightarrow K^+ + K^-$ invariant mass distributions, with combinatorial background subtracted, integrated over $\cos \theta^*$; \textbf{b)} example of $K^{*0} (\overline{K^{*0}}) \rightarrow K^{-} \pi^{+} (K^{+} \pi^{-})$ invariant mass distributions, with combinatorial background subtracted, integrated over $\cos \theta^*$; \textbf{c)} extracted yields of $\phi$ as a function of $\cos \theta^*$; \textbf{d)} extracted yields of $K^{*0}$ as a function of $\cos \theta^*$.
The measurement of the direct-photon spectrum from Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV is presented by the PHENIX collaboration using the external-photon-conversion technique for 0%--93% central collisions in a transverse-momentum ($p_T$) range of 0.8--10 GeV/$c$. An excess of direct photons, above prompt-photon production from hard-scattering processes, is observed for $p_T<6$ GeV/$c$. Nonprompt direct photons are measured by subtracting the prompt component, which is estimated as $N_{\rm coll}$-scaled direct photons from $p$ $+$ $p$ collisions at 200 GeV, from the direct-photon spectrum. Results are obtained for $0.8
Direct photon $R_{\gamma}$, every 20% centrality
Direct photon $R_{\gamma}$, every 10% centrality
Invariant yield of direct photons, every 10% centrality
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