The measurement of direct photons from Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=39$ and 62.4 GeV in the transverse-momentum range $0.4<p_T<3$ Gev/$c$ is presented by the PHENIX collaboration at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. A significant direct-photon yield is observed in both collision systems. A universal scaling is observed when the direct-photon $p_T$ spectra for different center-of-mass energies and for different centrality selections at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=62.4$ GeV is scaled with $(dN_{\rm ch}/d\eta)^{\alpha}$ for $\alpha=1.21{\pm}0.04$. This scaling also holds true for direct-photon spectra from Au$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV measured earlier by PHENIX, as well as the spectra from Pb$+$Pb at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=2760$ GeV published by ALICE. The scaling power $\alpha$ seems to be independent of $p_T$, center of mass energy, and collision centrality. The spectra from different collision energies have a similar shape up to $p_T$ of 2 GeV/$c$. The spectra have a local inverse slope $T_{\rm eff}$ increasing with $p_T$ of $0.174\pm0.018$ GeV/$c$ in the range $0.4<p_T<1.3$ GeV/$c$ and increasing to $0.289\pm0.024$ GeV/$c$ for $0.9<p_T<2.1$ GeV/$c$. The observed similarity of low-$p_T$ direct-photon production from $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}= 39$ to 2760 GeV suggests a common source of direct photons for the different collision energies and event centrality selections, and suggests a comparable space-time evolution of direct-photon emission.
$R_{\gamma}$ for minimum bias (0-86%) Au+Au collision at $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 62.4$ GeV (a) and $39$ GeV (b). For $62.4$ GeV also centrality bins of 0-20% (c) and 20-40% (d) are shown. Data points are shown with statistical (bar) and systematic uncertainties (box)
$R_{\gamma}$ for minimum bias (0-86%) Au+Au collision at $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 62.4$ GeV (a) and $39$ GeV (b). For $62.4$ GeV also centrality bins of 0-20% (c) and 20-40% (d) are shown. Data points are shown with statistical (bar) and systematic uncertainties (box)
Direct photon spectra for minimum bias (0-86%) Au+Au collision at $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 62.4$ GeV (a) and $39$ GeV (b). For $62.4$ GeV also centrality bins of 0-20% (c) and 20-40% (d) are shown. Data points are shown with statistical and systematic uncertainties, unless the central value is negative (arrows) or is consistent with zero within the statistical uncertainties (arrows with data point). In these cases upper limit with CL = 95$%$ are given.
The multiplicity dependence of electron production from heavy-flavour hadron decays as a function of transverse momentum was measured in p-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV using the ALICE detector at the LHC. The measurement was performed in the centre-of-mass rapidity interval $-1.07 < y_{\rm cms} < 0.14$ and transverse momentum interval 2 $< p_{\rm T} <$ 16 GeV/$c$. The multiplicity dependence of the production of electrons from heavy-flavour hadron decays was studied by comparing the $p_{\rm T}$ spectra measured for different multiplicity classes with those measured in pp collisions ($Q_{\rm pPb}$) and in peripheral p-Pb collisions ($Q_{\rm CP}$). The $Q_{\rm pPb}$ results obtained are consistent with unity within uncertainties in the measured $p_{\rm T}$ interval and event classes. This indicates that heavy-flavour decay electron production is consistent with binary scaling and independent of the geometry of the collision system. Additionally, the results suggest that cold nuclear matter effects are negligible within uncertainties, in the production of heavy-flavour decay electrons at midrapidity in p-Pb collisions.
$p_{\rm T}$-differential invariant cross section of electrons from heavy-flavour hadron decays in p--Pb collisions
$p_{\rm T}$-differential invariant cross section of electrons from heavy-flavour hadron decays in p--Pb collisions in 0--20\% centrality
$p_{\rm T}$-differential invariant cross section of electrons from heavy-flavour hadron decays in p--Pb collisions in 20--40\% centrality
The differential invariant yield as a function of transverse momentum ($p_\mathrm{T}$) of electrons from semileptonic heavy-flavour hadron decays was measured at midrapidity in central (0-10%), semi-central (30-50%) and peripheral (60-80%) lead-lead (Pb-Pb) collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}=5.02\text{ TeV}$ in the $p_{\mathrm{T}}$ intervals 0.5-26 GeV/$c$ (0-10% and 30-50%) and 0.5-10 GeV/$c$ (60-80%). The production cross section in proton-proton (pp) collisions at $\sqrt{s}=5.02$ TeV was measured as well in $0.5<p_\mathrm{T}<10$ GeV/$c$ and it lies close to the upper band of perturbative QCD calculation uncertainties up to $p_\mathrm{T}=5$ GeV/$c$ and close to the mean value for larger $p_\mathrm{T}$. The modification of the electron yield with respect to what is expected for an incoherent superposition of nucleon-nucleon collisions is evaluated by measuring the nuclear modification factor $R_{\mathrm{AA}}$. The measurement of the $R_{\mathrm{AA}}$ in different centrality classes allows in-medium energy loss of charm and beauty quarks to be investigated. The $R_{\mathrm{AA}}$ shows a suppression with respect to unity at intermediate $p_\mathrm{T}$, which increases while moving towards more central collisions. Moreover, the measured $R_{\mathrm{AA}}$ is sensitive to the modification of the parton distribution functions (PDF) in nuclei, like nuclear shadowing, which causes a suppression of the heavy-quark production at low $p_\mathrm{T}$ in heavy-ion collisions at LHC.
HFe cross section in pp
HFe cross section in Pb-Pb, 0-10 centrality
HFe cross section in Pb-Pb, 30-50 centrality
The study of the strength and behaviour of the antikaon-nucleon ($\mathrm{\overline{K}N}$) interaction constitutes one of the key focuses of the strangeness sector in low-energy Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). In this letter a unique high-precision measurement of the strong interaction between kaons and protons, close and above the kinematic threshold, is presented. The femtoscopic measurements of the correlation function at low pair-frame relative momentum of (K$^+$ p $\oplus$ K$^-$ $\overline{\mathrm{p}}$) and (K$^-$ p $\oplus$ K$^+$ $\overline{\mathrm{p}}$) pairs measured in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 5, 7 and 13 TeV are reported. A structure observed around a relative momentum of 58 MeV/$c$ in the measured correlation function of (K$^-$ p $\oplus$ K$^+$ $\overline{\mathrm{p}}$) with a significance of 4.4. $\sigma$ constitutes the first experimental evidence for the opening of the $(\mathrm{\overline{K}^0 n} \oplus \mathrm{K^0 \overline{n}})$ isospin breaking channel due to the mass difference between charged and neutral kaons. The measured correlation functions have been compared to J\"{u}lich and Kyoto models in addition to the Coulomb potential. The high-precision data at low relative momenta presented in this work prove femtoscopy to be a powerful complementary tool to scattering experiments and provide new constraints above the $\mathrm{\overline{K}N}$ threshold for low-energy QCD chiral models.
K-p correlation function in p-p collisions at $\sqrt{s}=5$ TeV.
K-p correlation function in p-p collisions at $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV.
K-p correlation function in p-p collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV.
This work presents new constraints on the existence and the binding energy of a possible $\Lambda$-$\Lambda$ bound state, the H-dibaryon, derived from $\Lambda$-$\Lambda$ femtoscopic measurements by the ALICE collaboration. The results are obtained from a new measurement using the femtoscopy technique in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV and p-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}=5.02$ TeV, combined with previously published results from p-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV. The $\Lambda$-$\Lambda$ scattering parameter space, spanned by the inverse scattering length $f_0^{-1}$ and the effective range $d_0$, is constrained by comparing the measured $\Lambda$-$\Lambda$ correlation function with calculations obtained within the Lednicky model. The data are compatible with hypernuclei results and lattice computations, both predicting a shallow attractive interaction, and permit to test different theoretical approaches describing the $\Lambda$-$\Lambda$ interaction. The region in the $(f_0^{-1},d_0)$ plane which would accommodate a $\Lambda$-$\Lambda$ bound state is substantially restricted compared to previous studies. The binding energy of the possible $\Lambda$-$\Lambda$ bound state is estimated within an effective-range expansion approach and is found to be $B_{\Lambda\Lambda}=3.2^{+1.6}_{-2.4}\mathrm{(stat)}^{+1.8}_{-1.0}\mathrm{(syst)}$ MeV.
p-p correlation function in p-p collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV.
$\Lambda$-$\Lambda$ correlation function in p-p collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV.
$\Lambda$-$\Lambda$ correlation function in p-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}=5.02$ TeV.
Inclusive J/$\psi$ production is studied in minimum-bias proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}$ = 5.02 TeV by ALICE at the CERN LHC. The measurement is performed at mid-rapidity ($|y| < 0.9$) in the dielectron decay channel down to zero transverse momentum $p_{\rm T}$, using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $L_{\rm int} = 19.4 \pm$ 0.4 nb$^{-1}$. The measured $p_{\rm T}$-integrated inclusive J/$\psi$ production cross section is d$\sigma$/d$y$ = 5.64 $\pm$ 0.22 (stat.) $\pm 0.33$ (syst.) $\pm 0.12$ (lumi.) $\mu$b. The $p_{\rm T}$-differential cross section d$^{2} \sigma$/d$p_{\rm T}$d$y$ is measured in the $p_{\rm T}$ range 0$-$10 GeV/$c$ and compared with state-of-the-art perturbative QCD calculations. The J/$\psi$ $\langle p_{\rm T} \rangle$ and $\langle p_{\rm T}^{2} \rangle$ are extracted and compared with results obtained at other collision energies.
$p_{\rm T}$-integrated inclusive J/$\psi$ cross section.
$p_{\rm T}$-differential inclusive J/$\psi$ cross section.
Mean $p_{\rm T}$ square of the inclusive J/$\psi$ spectrum at 5.02 TeV.
Production cross sections of muons from semi-leptonic decays of charm and beauty hadrons were measured at forward rapidity ($2.5<y<4$) in proton--proton (pp) collisions at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s}=5.02$ TeV with the ALICE detector at the CERN LHC. The results were obtained in an extended transverse momentum interval, $2 < p_{\rm T} < 20$ GeV/$c$, and with an improved precision compared to previous measurements performed in the same rapidity interval at centre-of-mass energies $\sqrt{s}= 2.76$ and 7 TeV. The $p_{\rm T}$- and $y$-differential production cross sections as well as the $p_{\rm T}$-differential production cross section ratios between different centre-of-mass energies and different rapidity intervals are described, within experimental and theoretical uncertainties, by predictions based on perturbative QCD.
$p_{\rm T}$-differential production cross section of muons from heavy-flavour hadron decays at forward rapidity in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}=5.02$ TeV in the rapidity interval $2.5 < y < 4$.
Production cross section of muons from heavy-flavour hadron decays as a function of rapidity in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 5.02$ TeV for the $p_{\rm T}$ interval $2 < p_{\rm T} < 7$ GeV/$c$.
Production cross section of muons from heavy-flavour hadron decays as a function of rapidity in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 5.02$ TeV for the $p_{\rm T}$ interval $7 < p_{\rm T} < 20$ GeV/$c$.
The ALICE collaboration at the CERN LHC reports novel measurements of jet substructure in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$= 7 TeV and central Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm{NN}}}$ = 2.76 TeV. Jet substructure of track-based jets is explored via iterative declustering and grooming techniques. We present the measurement of the momentum sharing of two-prong substructure exposed via grooming, the $z_{\rm{g}}$, and its dependence on the opening angle, in both pp and Pb-Pb collisions. We also present the first measurement of the distribution of the number of branches obtained in the iterative declustering of the jet, which is interpreted as the number of its hard splittings. In Pb-Pb collisions, we observe a suppression of symmetric splittings at large opening angles and an enhancement of splittings at small opening angles relative to pp collisions, with no significant modification of the number of splittings. The results are compared to predictions from various Monte Carlo event generators to test the role of important concepts in the evolution of the jet in the medium such as color coherence.
Fully corrected $z_{\rm g}$ distribution in pp collisions for $40 \leq p_{\rm T,jet}^{\rm ch} < 60$ GeV/{\it c} and for $R=0.4$.
Ratio of fully corrected $z_{\rm g}$ distribution in pp collisions for $40 \leq p_{\rm T,jet}^{\rm ch} < 60$ GeV/{\it c} and predictions from PYTHIA 6 Perugia 11 simulations.All for $R=0.4$.
Ratio of fully corrected $z_{\rm g}$ distribution in pp collisions for $40 \leq p_{\rm T,jet}^{\rm ch} < 60$ GeV/{\it c} and predictions from PYTHIA 6 Perugia+POWHEG simulations. All for $R=0.4$.
This work presents the first experimental observation of the attractive strong interaction between a proton and a multi-strange baryon (hyperon) $\Xi^-$. The result is extracted from two-particle correlations of combined $\rm{p}-\Xi^{-}$$\oplus$$\rm{\bar{p}}-\bar{\Xi}^{+}$ pairs measured in p-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm{NN}}}=5.02$ TeV at the LHC with ALICE. The measured correlation function is compared with the prediction obtained assuming only an attractive Coulomb interaction and a standard deviation in the range $[3.6,5.3]$ is found. Since the measured $\rm{p}-\Xi^{-}$$\oplus$$\rm{\bar{p}}-\bar{\Xi}^{+}$ correlation is significantly enhanced with respect to the Coulomb prediction, the presence of an additional, strong, attractive interaction is evident. The data are compatible with recent lattice calculations by the HAL-QCD Collaboration, with a standard deviation in the range $ [1.8,3.7]$. The lattice potential predicts a shallow repulsive $\Xi^-$ interaction within pure neutron matter at saturation densities and this implies stiffer equations of state for neutron-rich matter including hyperons. Implications of the strong interaction for the modeling of neutron stars are discussed.
The p$-$p $\oplus$ $\overline{\mathrm{p}}-\overline{\mathrm{p}}$ correlation function.
The p$-\Xi^{-}$ $\oplus$ $\overline{\mathrm{p}}-\overline{\Xi}^{-}$ correlation function.
The ALICE collaboration performed the first rapidity-differential measurement of coherent J/$\psi$ photoproduction in ultra-peripheral Pb-Pb collisions at a center-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s_{\rm{NN}}}$ = 5.02 TeV. The J/$\psi$ is detected via its dimuon decay in the forward rapidity region ($-4.0 < y < -2.5$) for events where the hadronic activity is required to be minimal. The analysis is based on an event sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 750 $\mu$b$^{-1}$. The cross section for coherent J/$\psi$ production is presented in six rapidity bins. The results are compared with theoretical models for coherent J/$\psi$ photoproduction. These comparisons indicate that gluon shadowing effects play a role in the photoproduction process. The ratio of $\psi'$ to J/$\psi$ coherent photoproduction cross sections was measured and found to be consistent with that measured for photoproduction off protons.
Differential cross section as a function of rapidity for coherent J/PSI photoproduction in ultra-peripheral Pb-Pb collisions.
Forum