The ALICE collaboration at the CERN Large Hadron Collider reports the first measurement of the inclusive differential jet cross section at mid-rapidity in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 2.76$ TeV, with integrated luminosity of 13.6 nb$^{-1}$. Jets are measured over the transverse momentum range 20 to 125 GeV/c and are corrected to the particle level. Calculations based on Next-to-Leading Order perturbative QCD are in good agreement with the measurements. The ratio of inclusive jet cross sections for jet radii $R = 0.2$ and $R = 0.4$ is reported, and is also well reproduced by a Next-to-Leading Order perturbative QCD calculation when hadronization effects are included.

The $p_{\rm T}$-differential inclusive production cross section of the prompt charm-strange meson $\rm D_s^+$ in the rapidity range $|y|<0.5$ was measured in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV at the LHC using the ALICE detector. The analysis was performed on a data sample of $2.98 \times 10^8$ events collected with a minimum-bias trigger. The corresponding integrated luminosity is $L_{\rm int}=4.8$/nb. Reconstructing the decay ${\rm D_s^{+}\to \phi\pi^+}$, with $\phi\to {\rm K}^-{\rm K}^+$, and its charge conjugate, about 480 ${\rm D_s^{\pm}}$ mesons were counted, after selection cuts, in the transverse momentum range $2<p_{\rm T}<12$ Gev/$c$. The results are compared with predictions from models based on perturbative QCD. The ratios of the cross sections of four D meson species (namely ${\rm D^0}$, ${\rm D^+}$, ${\rm D^{*+}}$ and ${\rm D_s^+}$) were determined both as a function of $p_{\rm T}$ and integrated over $p_{\rm T}$ after extrapolating to full $p_{\rm T}$ range, together with the strangeness suppression factor in charm fragmentation. The obtained values are found to be compatible within uncertainties with those measured by other experiments in $\rm e^+e^-$, ep and pp interactions at various centre-of-mass energies.

The ALICE experiment at the LHC has studied J/psi production at mid-rapidity in pp collisions at sqrt{s}=7 TeV through its electron pair decay on a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity L_int = 5.6nb-1. The fraction of J/psi from the decay of long-lived beauty hadrons was determined for J/psi candidates with transverse momentum p_t>1.3 GeV/c and rapidity |y|<0.9. The cross section for prompt J/psi mesons, i.e. directly produced J/psi and prompt decays of heavier charmonium states such as the Psi(2S) and Csi_c resonances, is sigma_prompt-J/psi(pt > 1.3 GeV/c, |y| < 0.9) = 8.3 +- 0.8(stat.) +- 1.1(syst.) + 1.5 - 1.4(syst. pol.) micro barn. The cross section for the production of b-hadrons decaying to J/psi with p_t>1.3 GeV/c and |y|<0.9 is sigma_{J/psi<-h_B} = 1.46 +- 0.38(stat.) + 0.26 -0.32(syst.) micro barn. The results are compared to QCD model predictions. The shape of the p_t and y distributions of b-quarks predicted by perturbative QCD model calculations are used to extrapolate the measured cross section to derive the b-bbar pair total cross section and dsigma/dy at mid-rapidity.

The transverse momentum ($p_{\mathrm T}$) distribution of primary charged particles is measured in minimum bias (non-single-diffractive) p-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}=5.02$ TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The $p_{\mathrm T}$ spectra measured near central rapidity in the range $0.5<p_{\mathrm T}<20$ GeV/$c$ exhibit a weak pseudorapidity dependence. The nuclear modification factor $R_{\mathrm{pPb}}$ is consistent with unity for $p_{\mathrm T}$ above 2 GeV/$c$. This measurement indicates that the strong suppression of hadron production at high $p_{\mathrm T}$ observed in Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC is not due to an initial-state effect. The measurement is compared to theoretical calculations.

The production cross section of electrons from semileptonic decays of beauty hadrons was measured at mid-rapidity (|y| < 0.8) in the transverse momentum range $1 < p_{\rm T} < 8$ Gev/$c$ with the ALICE experiment at the CERN LHC in pp collisions at a center of mass energy $\sqrt{s} = 7$ TeV using an integrated luminosity of 2.2 nb$^{-1}$. Electrons from beauty hadron decays were selected based on the displacement of the decay vertex from the collision vertex. A perturbative QCD calculation agrees with the measurement within uncertainties. The data were extrapolated to the full phase space to determine the total cross section for the production of beauty quark-antiquark pairs.

Measurements of cross sections of inelastic and diffractive processes in proton--proton collisions at LHC energies were carried out with the ALICE detector. The fractions of diffractive processes in inelastic collisions were determined from a study of gaps in charged particle pseudorapidity distributions: for single diffraction (diffractive mass $M_X < 200$ GeV/$c^2$) $\sigma_{\rm SD}/\sigma_{\rm INEL} = 0.21 \pm 0.03, 0.20^{+0.07}_{-0.08}$, and $0.20^{+0.04}_{-0.07}$, respectively at centre-of-mass energies $\sqrt{s} = 0.9, 2.76$, and 7~TeV; for double diffraction (for a pseudorapidity gap $\Delta\eta > 3$) $\sigma_{\rm DD}/\sigma_{\rm INEL} = 0.11 \pm 0.03, 0.12 \pm 0.05$, and $0.12^{+0.05}_{-0.04}$, respectively at $\sqrt{s} = 0.9, 2.76$, and 7~TeV. To measure the inelastic cross section, beam properties were determined with van der Meer scans, and, using a simulation of diffraction adjusted to data, the following values were obtained: $\sigma_{\rm INEL} = 62.8^{+2.4}_{-4.0} (model) \pm 1.2 (lumi)$ mb at $\sqrt{s} =$ 2.76~TeV and $73.2^{+2.0}_{-4.6} (model) \pm 2.6 (lumi)$ mb at $\sqrt{s}$ = 7~TeV. The single- and double-diffractive cross sections were calculated combining relative rates of diffraction with inelastic cross sections. The results are compared to previous measurements at proton--antiproton and proton--proton colliders at lower energies, to measurements by other experiments at the LHC, and to theoretical models.

The production of K$^{*}$(892)$^{0}$ and $\phi$(1020) in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV was measured by the ALICE experiment at the LHC. The yields and the transverse momentum spectra d$^{2}$N/d$y$d$p_{\rm T}$ at midrapidity $|y|<0.5$ in the range $0<p_{\rm T}<6$ GeV/$c$ for K$^{*}$(892)$^{0}$ and $0.4<p_{\rm T}<6$ GeV/$c$ for $\phi$(1020) are reported and compared to model predictions. Using the yield of pions, kaons, and Omega baryons measured previously by ALICE at $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV, the ratios K$^{*}$/K$^{-}$, $\phi$/K$^{*}$, $\phi$/K$^{-}$, $\phi/\pi^{-}$, and ($\Omega$ + $\overline{\Omega}$)/$\phi$ are presented. The values of the K$^{*}$/K$^{-}$, $\phi$/K$^{*}$ and $\phi$/K$^{-}$ ratios are similar to those found at lower centre-of-mass energies. In contrast, the $\phi/\pi^{-}$ ratio, which has been observed to increase with energy, seems to saturate above 200 GeV. The ($\Omega$ + $\overline{\Omega}$)/$\phi$ ratio in the $p_{\rm T}$ range $1$-$5$ GeV/$c$ is found to be in good agreement with the prediction of the HIJING/BB v2.0 model with a strong colour field.

We report the first measurement of the net-charge fluctuations in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 2.76 TeV, measured with the ALICE detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The dynamical fluctuations per unit entropy are observed to decrease when going from peripheral to central collisions. An additional reduction in the amount of fluctuations is seen in comparison to the results from lower energies. We examine the dependence of fluctuations on the pseudorapidity interval, which may account for the dilution of fluctuations during the evolution of the system. We find that the fluctuations at LHC are smaller compared to the measurements at the Relativistic heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), and as such, closer to what has been theoretically predicted for the formation of Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP).

The differential production cross section of electrons from semileptonic heavy-flavour hadron decays has been measured at mid-rapidity ($|y| < 0.5$) in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 7$ TeV with ALICE at the LHC. Electrons were measured in the transverse momentum range 0.5 $<p_{\rm T}<$ 8 GeV/$c$. Predictions from a fixed order perturbative QCD calculation with next-to-leading-log resummation agree with the data within the theoretical and experimental uncertainties.

The $p_{\rm T}$-differential production cross sections of the prompt (B feed-down subtracted) charmed mesons D$^0$, D$^+$, and D$^{*+}$ in the rapidity range $|y|<0.5$, and for transverse momentum $1< p_{\rm T} <12$ GeV/$c$, were measured in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 2.76$ TeV with the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The analysis exploited the hadronic decays D$^0 \rightarrow $K$\pi$, D$^+ \rightarrow $K$\pi\pi$, D$^{*+} \rightarrow $D$^0\pi$, and their charge conjugates, and was performed on a $L_{\rm int} = 1.1$ nb$^{-1}$ event sample collected in 2011 with a minimum-bias trigger. The total charm production cross section at $\sqrt{s} = 2.76$ TeV and at 7 TeV was evaluated by extrapolating to the full phase space the $p_{\rm T}$-differential production cross sections at $\sqrt{s} = 2.76$ TeV and our previous measurements at $\sqrt{s} = 7$ TeV. The results were compared to existing measurements and to perturbative-QCD calculations. The fraction of cdbar D mesons produced in a vector state was also determined.