The ALICE experiment has measured low-mass dimuon production in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 7$ TeV in the dimuon rapidity region 2.5<y<4. The observed dimuon mass spectrum is described as a superposition of resonance decays ($\eta$, $\rho$, $\omega$, $\eta^{'}$, $\phi$) into muons and semi-leptonic decays of charmed mesons. The measured production cross sections for $\omega$ and $\phi$ are $\sigma_\omega$ (1<$p_{\rm T}$<5 GeV/$c$,2.5<y<4) = 5.28 $\pm$ 0.54 (stat) $\pm$ 0.50 (syst) mb and $\sigma_\phi$(1<$p_{\rm T}$<5 GeV/$c$,2.5<y<4)=0.940 $\pm$ 0.084 (stat) $\pm$ 0.078 (syst) mb. The differential cross sections $d^2\sigma/dy dp_{\rm T}$ are extracted as a function of $p_{\rm T}$ for $\omega$ and $\phi$. The ratio between the $\rho$ and $\omega$ cross section is obtained. Results for the $\phi$ are compared with other measurements at the same energy and with predictions by models.
The production of mesons containing strange quarks (K$^0_s$, $\phi$) and both singly and doubly strange baryons ($\Lambda$, Anti-$\Lambda$, and $\Xi$+Anti-$\Xi$) are measured at central rapidity in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 0.9 TeV with the ALICE experiment at the LHC. The results are obtained from the analysis of about 250 k minimum bias events recorded in 2009. Measurements of yields (dN/dy) and transverse momentum spectra at central rapidities for inelastic pp collisions are presented. For mesons, we report yields (<dN/dy>) of 0.184 $\pm$ 0.002 stat. $\pm$ 0.006 syst. for K$^0_s$ and 0.021 $\pm$ 0.004 stat. $\pm$ 0.003 syst. for $\phi$. For baryons, we find <dN/dy> = 0.048 $\pm$ 0.001 stat. $\pm$ 0.004 syst. for $\Lambda$, 0.047 $\pm$ 0.002 stat. $\pm$ 0.005 syst. for Anti-$\Lambda$ and 0.0101 $\pm$ 0.0020 stat. $\pm$ 0.0009 syst. for $\Xi$+Anti-$\Xi$. The results are also compared with predictions for identified particle spectra from QCD-inspired models and provide a baseline for comparisons with both future pp measurements at higher energies and heavy-ion collisions.
The production of K$^{*}(892)^{0}$ and $\phi(1020)$ mesons in proton-proton (pp) and lead-lead (Pb-Pb) collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}} = 5.02$ TeV has been measured using the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The transverse momentum ($p_{\mathrm{T}}$) distributions of K$^{*}(892)^{0}$ and $\phi(1020)$ mesons have been measured at midrapidity $(|y|<0.5)$ up to $p_{\mathrm{T}} = 20$ GeV$/c$ in inelastic pp collisions and for several Pb-Pb collision centralities. The collision centrality and collision energy dependence of the average transverse momenta agree with the radial flow scenario observed with stable hadrons, showing that the effect is stronger for more central collisions and higher collision energies. The $\mathrm{K^{*0}/K}$ ratio is found to be suppressed in Pb-Pb collisions relative to pp collisions: this indicates a loss of the measured K$^{*}(892)^{0}$ signal due to rescattering of its decay products in the hadronic phase. In contrast, for the longer-lived $\phi(1020)$ mesons, no such suppression is observed. The nuclear modification factors ($R_{\rm AA}$) of K$^{*}(892)^{0}$ and $\phi(1020)$ mesons are calculated using pp reference spectra at the same collision energy. In central Pb-Pb collisions for $p_{\rm T} > 8$ GeV$/c$, the $R_{\rm AA}$ values of K$^{*}(892)^{0}$ and $\phi(1020)$ are below unity and observed to be similar to those of pions, kaons, and (anti)protons. The $R_{\rm AA}$ values at high $p_{\mathrm T}$ ($>$~8 GeV$/c$) for K$^{*}(892)^{0}$ and $\phi(1020)$ mesons are in agreement within uncertainties for $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}} = 5.02$ and 2.76 TeV.
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