The measurement of the production of ${\rm f}_{0}(980)$ in inelastic pp collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 5.02$ TeV is presented. This is the first reported measurement of inclusive ${\rm f}_{0}(980)$ yield at LHC energies. The production is measured at midrapidity, $|y| < 0.5$, in a wide transverse momentum range, $0 < p_{\rm T} < 16$ GeV/$c$, by reconstructing the resonance in the ${\rm f}_{0}(980) \rightarrow \pi^{+}\pi^{-}$ hadronic decay channel using the ALICE detector. The $p_{\rm T}$-differential yields are compared to those of pions, protons and $\phi$ mesons as well as to predictions from the HERWIG 7.2 QCD-inspired Monte Carlo event generator and calculations from a coalescence model that uses the AMPT model as an input. The ratio of the $p_{\rm T}$-integrated yield of ${\rm f}_{0}(980)$ relative to pions is compared to measurements in ${\rm e}^{+}{\rm e}^{-}$ and pp collisions at lower energies and predictions from statistical hadronisation models and HERWIG 7.2. A mild collision energy dependence of the ${\rm f}_{0}(980)$ to pion production is observed in pp collisions from SPS to LHC energies. All considered models underpredict the $p_{\rm T}$-integrated $2{\rm f}_{0}(980)/(\pi^{+}+\pi^{-})$ ratio. The prediction from the canonical statistical hadronisation model assuming a zero total strangeness content of ${\rm f}_{0}(980)$ is consistent with the data within 1.9$\sigma$ and is the closest to the data. The results provide an essential reference for future measurements of the particle yield and nuclear modification in p$-$Pb and Pb$-$Pb collisions, which have been proposed to be instrumental to probe the elusive nature and quark composition of the ${\rm f}_{0}(980)$ scalar meson.

Measurements of the production cross sections of prompt ${\rm D^0}$, ${\rm D^+}$, ${\rm D^{\ast +}}$, ${\rm D_s^+}$, ${\rm \Lambda_{c}^{+}}$, and ${\rm \Xi_{c}^{+}}$ charm hadrons at midrapidity in proton$-$proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV with the ALICE detector are presented. The D-meson cross sections as a function of transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) are provided with improved precision and granularity. The ratios of $p_{\rm T}$-differential meson production cross sections based on this publication and on measurements at different rapidity and collision energy provide a constraint on gluon parton distribution functions at low values of Bjorken-$x$ ($10^{-5}-10^{-4}$). The measurements of ${\rm \Lambda_{c}^{+}}$ (${\rm \Xi_{c}^{+}}$) baryon production extend the measured $p_{\rm T}$ intervals down to $p_{\rm T}=0(3)$~GeV$/c$. These measurements are used to determine the charm-quark fragmentation fractions and the ${\rm c\overline{c}}$ production cross section at midrapidity ($|y|<0.5$) based on the sum of the cross sections of the weakly-decaying ground-state charm hadrons ${\rm D^0}$, ${\rm D^+}$, ${\rm D_s^+}$, ${\rm \Lambda_{c}^{+}}$, ${\rm \Xi_{c}^{0}}$ and, for the first time, ${\rm \Xi_{c}^{+}}$, and of the strongly-decaying J/$psi$ mesons. The first measurements of ${\rm \Xi_{c}^{+}}$ and ${\rm \Sigma_{c}^{0,++}}$ fragmentation fractions at midrapidity are also reported. A significantly larger fraction of charm quarks hadronising to baryons is found compared to e$^+$e$^-$ and ep collisions. The ${\rm c\overline{c}}$ production cross section at midrapidity is found to be at the upper bound of state-of-the-art perturbative QCD calculations.

The production of K$^*$(892)$^\pm$ meson resonance is measured at midrapidity ($|y|<0.5$) in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=5.02$ TeV using the ALICE detector at the LHC. The resonance is reconstructed via its hadronic decay channel K$^*$(892)$^\pm \rightarrow \rm{K^0_S \pi^\pm}$. The transverse momentum distributions are obtained for various centrality intervals in the $p_{\rm T}$ range of 0.4-16 GeV/$c$. The reported measurements of integrated yields, mean transverse momenta, and particle yield ratios are consistent with previous ALICE measurements for K$^*$(892)$^0$. The $p_{\rm T}$-integrated yield ratio 2K$^*$(892)$^\pm$/($\rm{K^+ + K^-}$) in central Pb-Pb collisions shows a significant suppression (9.3$\sigma$) relative to pp collisions. Thermal model calculations overpredict the particle yield ratio. Although both simulations consider the hadronic phase, only HRG-PCE accurately represents the measurements, whereas MUSIC+SMASH tends to overpredict them. These observations, along with the kinetic freeze-out temperatures extracted from the yields of light-flavored hadrons using the HRG-PCE model, indicate a finite hadronic phase lifetime, which increases towards central collisions. The $p_{\rm T}$-differential yield ratios 2K$^*$(892)$^\pm$/($\rm{K^+ + K^-}$) and 2K$^*$(892)$^\pm$/($\rm{\pi^+ + \pi^-}$) are suppressed by up to a factor of five at $p_{\rm T}<2$ GeV/$c$ in central Pb-Pb collisions compared to pp collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 5.02 TeV. Both particle ratios and are qualitatively consistent with expectations for rescattering effects in the hadronic phase. The nuclear modification factor shows a smooth evolution with centrality and is below unity at $p_{\rm T}>8$ GeV/$c$, consistent with measurements for other light-flavored hadrons. The smallest values are observed in most central collisions, indicating larger energy loss of partons traversing the dense medium.

The Chiral Magnetic Wave (CMW) phenomenon is essential to provide insights into the strong interaction in QCD, the properties of the quark-gluon plasma, and the topological characteristics of the early universe, offering a deeper understanding of fundamental physics in high-energy collisions. Measurements of the charge-dependent anisotropic flow coefficients are studied in Pb-Pb collisions at center-of-mass energy per nucleon-nucleon collision $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}=$ 5.02 TeV to probe the CMW. In particular, the slope of the normalized difference in elliptic ($v_{2}$) and triangular ($v_{3}$) flow coefficients of positively and negatively charged particles as a function of their event-wise normalized number difference, is reported for inclusive and identified particles. The slope $r_{3}^{\rm Norm}$ is found to be larger than zero and to have a magnitude similar to $r_{2}^{\rm Norm}$, thus pointing to a large background contribution for these measurements. Furthermore, $r_{2}^{\rm Norm}$ can be described by a blast wave model calculation that incorporates local charge conservation. In addition, using the event shape engineering technique yields a fraction of CMW ($f_{\rm CMW}$) contribution to this measurement which is compatible with zero. This measurement provides the very first upper limit for $f_{\rm CMW}$, and in the 10-60% centrality interval it is found to be 26% (38%) at 95% (99.7%) confidence level.

The pseudorapidity density of charged particles with minimum transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) thresholds of 0.15, 0.5, 1, and 2 GeV$/c$ is measured in pp collisions at the centre of mass energies of $\sqrt{s} =$ 5.02 and 13 TeV with the ALICE detector. The study is carried out for inelastic collisions with at least one primary charged particle having a pseudorapidity ($\eta$) within $\pm0.8$ and $p_{\rm T}$ larger than the corresponding threshold. In addition, measurements without $p_{\rm T}$-thresholds are performed for inelastic and non-single-diffractive events as well as for inelastic events with at least one charged particle having $|\eta|<1$ in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 5.02 TeV for the first time at the LHC. These measurements are compared to the PYTHIA 6, PYTHIA 8, and EPOS-LHC models. In general, the models describe the $\eta$ dependence of particle production well. However, discrepancies are observed for the highest transverse momentum threshold ($p_{\rm T}>2 {\rm\ GeV}/c$), highlighting the importance of such measurements for tuning event generators. The new measurements agree within uncertainties with results from the ATLAS and CMS experiments obtained at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV.

Multiplicity ($N_{\rm ch}$) distributions and transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) spectra of inclusive primary charged particles in the kinematic range of $|\eta| < 0.8$ and 0.15 GeV/$c$$< p_{T} <$ 10 GeV/$c$ are reported for pp, p-Pb, Xe-Xe and Pb-Pb collisions at centre-of-mass energies per nucleon pair ranging from $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76$ TeV up to $13$ TeV. A sequential two-dimensional unfolding procedure is used to extract the correlation between the transverse momentum of primary charged particles and the charged-particle multiplicity of the corresponding collision. This correlation sharply characterises important features of the final state of a collision and, therefore, can be used as a stringent test of theoretical models. The multiplicity distributions as well as the mean and standard deviation derived from the $p_{\rm T}$ spectra are compared to state-of-the-art model predictions. Providing these fundamental observables of bulk particle production consistently across a wide range of collision energies and system sizes can serve as an important input for tuning Monte Carlo event generators.

A study of multiplicity and pseudorapidity distributions of inclusive photons measured in pp and p$-$Pb collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon$-$nucleon collision of $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 5.02$ TeV using the ALICE detector in the forward pseudorapidity region $2.3 < \eta_{\rm lab} < 3.9$ is presented. Measurements in p$-$Pb collisions are reported for two beam configurations in which the directions of the proton and lead ion beam were reversed. The pseudorapidity distributions in p$-$Pb collisions are obtained for seven centrality classes which are defined based on different event activity estimators, i.e., the charged-particle multiplicity measured at midrapidity as well as the energy deposited in a calorimeter at beam rapidity. The inclusive photon multiplicity distributions for both pp and p$-$Pb collisions are described by double negative binomial distributions. The pseudorapidity distributions of inclusive photons are compared to those of charged particles at midrapidity in \pp collisions and for different centrality classes in p$-$Pb collisions. The results are compared to predictions from various Monte Carlo event generators. None of the generators considered in this paper reproduces the inclusive photon multiplicity distributions in the reported multiplicity range. The pseudorapidity distributions are, however, better described by the same generators.

Charged-particle jet yields have been measured in semicentral Pb$-$Pb collisions at center-of-mass energy per nucleon-nucleon collision $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 5$ TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC. These yields are reported as a function of the jet transverse momentum, and further classified by their angle with respect to the event plane and the event shape, characterized by ellipticity, in an effort to study the path-length dependence of jet quenching. Jets were reconstructed at midrapidity from charged-particle tracks using the anti-$k_{\rm T}$ algorithm with resolution parameters $R =$ 0.2 and 0.4, with event-plane angle and event-shape values determined using information from forward scintillating detectors. The results presented in this letter show that, in semicentral Pb$-$Pb collisions, there is no significant difference between jet yields in predominantly isotropic and elliptical events. However, out-of-plane jets are observed to be more suppressed than in-plane jets. Further, this relative suppression is greater for low transverse momentum ($<$ 50 GeV/$c$) $R =$ 0.2 jets produced in elliptical events, with out-of-plane to in-plane jet-yield ratios varying up to 5.2$\sigma$ between different event-shape classes. These results agree with previous studies indicating that jets experience azimuthally anisotropic suppression when traversing the QGP medium, and can provide additional constraints on the path-length dependence of jet energy loss.

The production of electrons from beauty-hadron decays was measured at midrapidity in proton-proton (pp) and central Pb-Pb collisions at center-of-mass energy per nucleon-nucleon pair $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV, using the ALICE detector at the LHC. The cross section measured in pp collisions in the transverse momentum interval $2 < p_{\rm T} < 8$ GeV/$c$ was compared with models based on perturbative quantum chromodynamics calculations. The yield in the 10% most central Pb-Pb collisions, measured in the interval $2 < p_{\rm T} < 26$ GeV/$c$, was used to compute the nuclear modification factor $R_{\rm AA}$, extrapolating the pp reference cross section to $p_{\rm T}$ larger than 8 GeV/$c$. The measured $R_{\rm AA}$ shows significant suppression of the yield of electrons from beauty-hadron decays at high $p_{\rm T}$ and does not show a significant dependence on $p_{\rm T}$ above 8 GeV/$c$ within uncertainties. The results are described by several theoretical models based on different implementations of the interaction of heavy quarks with a quark-gluon plasma, which predict a smaller energy loss for beauty quarks compared to light and charm quarks.

Measurements of inclusive charged-particle jet production in pp and p-Pb collisions at center-of-mass energy per nucleon-nucleon collision $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 5.02$ TeV and the corresponding nuclear modification factor $R_{\rm pPb}^{\rm ch\,jet}$ are presented, using data collected with the ALICE detector at the LHC. Jets are reconstructed in the central rapidity region $|\eta_{\rm jet}| < 0.5$ from charged particles using the anti-$k_{\rm T}$ algorithm with resolution parameters $R = 0.2$, 0.3, and 0.4. The $p_{\rm T}$-differential inclusive production cross section of charged-particle jets, as well as the corresponding cross-section ratios, are reported for pp and p-Pb collisions in the transverse momentum range $10 < p^{\rm ch}_{\rm T,jet} < 140$ GeV/$c$ and $10 < p^{\rm ch}_{\rm T,jet} < 160$ GeV/$c$, respectively, together with the nuclear modification factor $R_{\rm pPb}^{\rm ch\,jet}$ in the range $10 < p^{\rm ch}_{\rm T,jet} < 140$ GeV/$c$. The analysis extends the $p_{\rm T}$ range of the previously-reported charged-particle jet measurements by the ALICE Collaboration. The nuclear modification factor is found to be consistent with one and independent of the jet resolution parameter with the improved precision of this study, indicating that the possible influence of cold nuclear matter effects on the production cross section of charged-particle jets in p-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 5.02$ TeV is smaller than the current precision. The obtained results are in agreement with other minimum bias jet measurements available for RHIC and LHC energies, and are well reproduced by the NLO perturbative QCD POWHEG calculations with parton shower provided by PYTHIA8 as well as by JETSCAPE simulations.