The directed flow of charged particles at mid-rapidity is measured in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_\rm{NN}}=2.76$ TeV relative to the collision symmetry plane defined by the spectator nucleons. A negative slope of the rapidity-odd directed flow component with approximately 3 times smaller magnitude than found at the highest RHIC energy is observed. This suggests a smaller longitudinal tilt of the initial system and disfavors the strong fireball rotation predicted for the LHC energies. The rapidity-even directed flow component is measured for the first time with spectators and found to be independent of pseudorapidity with a sign change at transverse momenta $p_{\rm T}$ between $1.2$ and $1.7$ GeV/$c$. Combined with the observation of a vanishing rapidity-even $p_{\rm T}$ shift along the spectator deflection this is strong evidence for dipole-like initial density fluctuations in the overlap zone of the nuclei. Similar trends in the rapidity-even directed flow and the estimate from two-particle correlations at mid-rapidity, which is larger by about a factor of 40, indicate a weak correlation between fluctuating participant and spectator symmetry planes. These observations open new possibilities for investigation of the initial conditions in heavy-ion collisions with spectator nucleons.
The centrality dependence of the charged-particle multiplicity density at mid-rapidity in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 2.76 TeV is presented. The charged-particle density normalized per participating nucleon pair increases by about a factor 2 from peripheral (70-80%) to central (0-5%) collisions. The centrality dependence is found to be similar to that observed at lower collision energies. The data are compared with models based on different mechanisms for particle production in nuclear collisions.
The pseudorapidity density of charged particles ($\mathrm{d}N_\mathrm{ch}/\mathrm{d}\eta$) at mid-rapidity in Pb-Pb collisions has been measured at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV. It increases with centrality and reaches a value of $1943 \pm 54$ in $|\eta|<0.5$ for the 5% most central collisions. A rise in $\mathrm{d}N_\mathrm{ch}/\mathrm{d}\eta$ as a function of $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ for the most central collisions is observed, steeper than that observed in proton-proton collisions and following the trend established by measurements at lower energy. The centrality dependence of $\mathrm{d}N_\mathrm{ch}/\mathrm{d}\eta$ as a function of the average number of participant nucleons, ${\langle N_\mathrm{part} \rangle}$, calculated in a Glauber model, is compared with the previous measurement at lower energy. A constant factor of about 1.2 describes the increase in $\frac{2}{\langle N_\mathrm{part} \rangle}\langle \mathrm{d}N_\mathrm{ch}/\mathrm{d}\eta \rangle$ from $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 2.76 TeV to $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV for all centrality intervals, within the measured range of 0-80% centrality. The results are also compared to models based on different mechanisms for particle production in nuclear collisions.
In two-particle angular correlation measurements, jets give rise to a near-side peak, formed by particles associated to a higher $p_{\mathrm{T}}$ trigger particle. Measurements of these correlations as a function of pseudorapidity ($\Delta\eta$) and azimuthal ($\Delta\varphi$) differences are used to extract the centrality and $p_{\mathrm{T}}$ dependence of the shape of the near-side peak in the $p_{\mathrm{T}}$ range $1 < p_{\mathrm{T}} <$ 8 GeV/c in Pb-Pb and pp collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}$ = 2.76 TeV. A combined fit of the near-side peak and long-range correlations is applied to the data and the peak shape is quantified by the variance of the distributions. While the width of the peak in the $\Delta\varphi$ direction is almost independent of centrality, a significant broadening in the $\Delta\eta$ direction is found from peripheral to central collisions. This feature is prominent for the low $p_{\mathrm{T}}$ region and vanishes above 4 GeV/c. The widths measured in peripheral collisions are equal to those in pp in the $\Delta\varphi$ direction and above 3 GeV/c in the $\Delta\eta$ direction. Furthermore, for the 10\% most central collisions and $1 < p_{\mathrm{T, assoc}} <$ 2 GeV/c, $1 < p_{\mathrm{T, trig}} <$ 3 GeV/c a departure from a Gaussian shape is found: a depletion develops around the centre of the peak. The results are compared to AMPT model simulations as well as other theoretical calculations indicating that the broadening and the development of the depletion is connected to the strength of radial and longitudinal flow.
We report on the first measurement of inclusive J/$\psi$ elliptic flow, $v_2$, in heavy-ion collisions at the LHC. The measurement is performed with the ALICE detector in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76$ TeV in the rapidity range $2.5 < y < 4.0$. The dependence of the J/$\psi$ $v_2$ on the collision centrality and on the J/$\psi$ transverse momentum is studied in the range $0 < p_{\rm T} < 10$ GeV/$c$. For semi-central Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76$ TeV, an indication of non-zero $v_2$ is observed with a maximum value of $v_2 = 0.116 \pm 0.046 {\rm (stat.)} \pm 0.029 {\rm (syst.)}$ for J/$\psi$ in the transverse momentum range $2 < p_{\rm T} < 4$ GeV/$c$. The elliptic flow measurement complements the previously reported ALICE results on the inclusive J/$\psi$ nuclear modification factor and favors the scenario of a significant fraction of J/$\psi$ production from charm quarks in a deconfined partonic phase.
We present the measurements of particle pair yields per trigger particle obtained from di-hadron azimuthal correlations in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 0.9$, $2.76$, and $7$ TeV recorded with the ALICE detector. The yields are studied as a function of the charged particle multiplicity. Taken together with the single particle yields the pair yields provide information about parton fragmentation at low transverse momenta, as well as on the contribution of multiple parton interactions to particle production. Data are compared to calculations using the PYTHIA6, PYTHIA8, and PHOJET event generators.
In this Letter we report the first results on $\pi^\pm$, K$^\pm$, p and $\mathrm {p\overline{p}}$ production at mid-rapidity ($\left|y\right|<0.5$) in central Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 2.76 TeV, measured by the ALICE experiment at the LHC. The $p_{\rm T}$ distributions and yields are compared to previous results at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 200 GeV and expectations from hydrodynamic and thermal models. The spectral shapes indicate a strong increase of the radial flow velocity with $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$, which in hydrodynamic models is expected as a consequence of the increasing particle density. While the ${\rm K}/\pi$ ratio is in line with predictions from the thermal model, the ${\rm p}/\pi$ ratio is found to be lower by a factor of about 1.5. This deviation from thermal model expectations is still to be understood.
In this Letter, comprehensive results on ${\rm\pi}^\pm$, K$^\pm$, K$^0_S$, p, $\rm\bar{p}$, $\rm \Lambda$ and $\rm \bar{\Lambda}$ production at mid-rapidity ($0 < y_{\rm cms} < 0.5$) in p-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 5.02$ TeV, measured by the ALICE detector at the LHC, are reported. The transverse momentum distributions exhibit a hardening as a function of event multiplicity, which is stronger for heavier particles. This behavior is similar to what has been observed in pp and Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC. The measured $p_{\rm T}$ distributions are compared to results at lower energy and with predictions based on QCD-inspired and hydrodynamic models.
This Letter presents a constraint on the total width of the Higgs boson ($\Gamma_H$) using a combined measurement of on-shell Higgs boson production and the production of four top quarks, which involves contributions from off-shell Higgs boson-mediated processes. This method relies on the assumption that the tree-level Higgs-top Yukawa coupling strength is the same for on-shell and off-shell Higgs boson production processes, thereby avoiding any assumptions about the relationship between on-shell and off-shell gluon fusion Higgs production rates, which were central to previous measurements. The result is based on up to 140 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The observed (expected) 95% confidence level upper limit on $\Gamma_H$ is 450 MeV (75 MeV). Additionally, considering the constraint on the Higgs-top Yukawa coupling from loop-induced Higgs boson production and decay processes further yields an observed (expected) upper limit of 160 MeV (55 MeV).
The charged-particle pseudorapidity density measured over 4 units of pseudorapidity in non-single-diffractive (NSD) p-Pb collisions at a centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 5.02$ TeV is presented. The average value at midrapidity is measured to be $16.81 \pm 0.71$ (syst.), which corresponds to $2.14 \pm 0.17$ (syst.) per participating nucleon. This is 16% lower than in NSD pp collisions interpolated to the same collision energy, and 84% higher than in d-Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 0.2$ TeV. The measured pseudorapidity density in p-Pb collisions is compared to model predictions, and provides new constraints on the description of particle production in high-energy nuclear collisions.
Forum