Measurements of charged pion and kaon production in central Pb+Pb collisions at 40, 80 and 158 AGeV are presented. These are compared with data at lower and higher energies as well as with results from p+p interactions. The mean pion multiplicity per wounded nucleon increases approximately linearly with s_NN^1/4 with a change of slope starting in the region 15-40 AGeV. The change from pion suppression with respect to p+p interactions, as observed at low collision energies, to pion enhancement at high energies occurs at about 40 AGeV. A non-monotonic energy dependence of the ratio of K^+ to pi^+ yields is observed, with a maximum close to 40 AGeV and an indication of a nearly constant value at higher energies.The measured dependences may be related to an increase of the entropy production and a decrease of the strangeness to entropy ratio in central Pb+Pb collisions in the low SPS energy range, which is consistent with the hypothesis that a transient state of deconfined matter is created above these energies. Other interpretations of the data are also discussed.

The multi-strange baryon yields in Pb--Pb collisions have been shown to exhibit an enhancement relative to pp reactions. In this work, $\Xi$ and $\Omega$ production rates have been measured with the ALICE experiment as a function of transverse momentum, ${p_{\rm T}}$, in p-Pb collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of ${\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}}$ = 5.02 TeV. The results cover the kinematic ranges 0.6 GeV/$c<{p_{\rm T}} <$7.2 GeV/$c$ and 0.8 GeV/$c<{p_{\rm T}}<$ 5 GeV/$c$, for $\Xi$ and $\Omega$ respectively, in the common rapidity interval -0.5 $<{y_{\rm CMS}}<$ 0. Multi-strange baryons have been identified by reconstructing their weak decays into charged particles. The ${p_{\rm T}}$ spectra are analysed as a function of event charged-particle multiplicity, which in p-Pb collisions ranges over one order of magnitude and lies between those observed in pp and Pb-Pb collisions. The measured ${p_{\rm T}}$ distributions are compared to the expectations from a Blast-Wave model. The parameters which describe the production of lighter hadron species also describe the hyperon spectra in high multiplicity p-Pb. The yield of hyperons relative to charged pions is studied and compared with results from pp and Pb-Pb collisions. A statistical model is employed, which describes the change in the ratios with volume using a canonical suppression mechanism, in which the small volume causes a species-dependent relative reduction of hadron production. The calculations, in which the magnitude of the effect depends on the strangeness content, show good qualitative agreement with the data.

The ATLAS experiment has observed 1995 Z boson candidates in data corresponding to 0.15 inverse nb of integrated luminosity obtained in the 2011 LHC Pb+Pb run at sqrt(s_NN)=2.76 TeV. The Z bosons are reconstructed via di-electron and di-muon decay channels, with a background contamination of less than 3%. Results from the two channels are consistent and are combined. Within the statistical and systematic uncertainties, the per-event Z boson yield is proportional to the number of binary collisions estimated by the Glauber model. The elliptic anisotropy of the azimuthal distribution of the Z boson with respect to the event plane is found to be consistent with zero.

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.

Yields and phase space distributions of φ -mesons emitted from p+p (minimum bias trigger), p+Pb (at various centralities) and central Pb+Pb collisions are reported ( E beam =158 A GeV). The decay φ →K + K − was used for identification. The φ / π ratio is found to increase by a factor of 3.0±0.7 from inelastic p+p to central Pb+Pb. Significant enhancement in this ratio is also observed in subclasses of p+p events (characterized by high charged-particle multiplicity) as well as in the forward hemisphere of central p+Pb collisions. In Pb+Pb no shift or significant broadening of the φ -peak is seen.

The PHENIX experiment has measured mid-rapidity transverse momentum spectra (0.4 < p_T < 4.0 GeV/c) of single electrons as a function of centrality in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV. Contributions to the raw spectra from photon conversions and Dalitz decays of light neutral mesons are measured by introducing a thin (1.7% X_0) converter into the PHENIX acceptance and are statistically removed. The subtracted ``non-photonic'' electron spectra are primarily due to the semi-leptonic decays of hadrons containing heavy quarks (charm and bottom). For all centralities, charm production is found to scale with the nuclear overlap function, T_AA. For minimum-bias collisions the charm cross section per binary collision is N_cc^bar/T_AA = 622 +/- 57 (stat.) +/- 160 (sys.) microbarns.

The production of the hypertriton nuclei $^{3}_{\Lambda}\mathrm H$ and $^{3}_{\bar{\Lambda}} \overline{\mathrm H}$ has been measured for the first time in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 2.76 TeV with the ALICE experiment at LHC energies. The total yield, d$N$/d$y$ $\times \mathrm{B.R.}_{\left( ^{3}_{\Lambda}\mathrm H \rightarrow ^{3}\mathrm{He},\pi^{-} \right)} = \left( 3.86 \pm 0.77 (\mathrm{stat.}) \pm 0.68 (\mathrm{syst.})\right) \times 10^{-5}$ in the 0-10% most central collisions, is consistent with the predictions from a statistical thermal model using the same temperature as for the light hadrons. The coalescence parameter $B_3$ shows a dependence on the transverse momentum, similar to the $B_2$ of deuterons and the $B_3$ of $^{3}\mathrm{He}$ nuclei. The ratio of yields $S_3$ = $^{3}_{\Lambda}\mathrm H$/($^{3}\mathrm{He}$ $\times \Lambda/\mathrm{p}$) was measured to be $S_3$ = 0.60 $\pm$ 0.13 (stat.) $\pm$ 0.21 (syst.) in 0-10% centrality events; this value is compared to different theoretical models. The measured $S_3$ is fully compatible with thermal model predictions. The measured $^{3}_{\Lambda}\mathrm H$ lifetime, $ \tau = 181^{+54}_{-39} (\mathrm{stat.}) \pm 33 (\mathrm{syst.})\ \mathrm{ps}$ is compatible within 1$\sigma$ with the world average value.

Measurements of the yield and nuclear modification factor, $R_\mathrm{ AA}$, for inclusive jet production are performed using 0.49 nb$^{-1}$ of Pb+Pb data at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}} = 5.02$ TeV and 25 pb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ data at $\sqrt{s}=5.02$ TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Jets are reconstructed with the anti-$k_t$ algorithm with radius parameter $R=0.4$ and are measured over the transverse momentum range of 40-1000 GeV in six rapidity intervals covering $|y|<2.8$. The magnitude of $R_\mathrm{ AA}$ increases with increasing jet transverse momentum, reaching a value of approximately 0.6 at 1 TeV in the most central collisions. The magnitude of $R_\mathrm{ AA}$ also increases towards peripheral collisions. The value of $R_\mathrm{ AA}$ is independent of rapidity at low jet transverse momenta, but it is observed to decrease with increasing rapidity at high transverse momenta.

The production of J/$\psi$ and $\psi(2S)$ was measured with the ALICE detector in Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC. The measurement was performed at forward rapidity ($2.5 < y < 4 $) down to zero transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) in the dimuon decay channel. Inclusive J/$\psi$ yields were extracted in different centrality classes and the centrality dependence of the average $p_{\rm T}$ is presented. The J/$\psi$ suppression, quantified with the nuclear modification factor ($R_{\rm AA}$), was studied as a function of centrality, transverse momentum and rapidity. Comparisons with similar measurements at lower collision energy and theoretical models indicate that the J/$\psi$ production is the result of an interplay between color screening and recombination mechanisms in a deconfined partonic medium, or at its hadronization. Results on the $\psi(2S)$ suppression are provided via the ratio of $\psi(2S)$ over J/$\psi$ measured in pp and Pb-Pb collisions.

We report on the first measurement of an excess in the yield of J/$\psi$ at very low transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}< 0.3$ GeV/$c$) in peripheral hadronic Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 2.76 TeV, performed by ALICE at the CERN LHC. Remarkably, the measured nuclear modification factor of J/$\psi$ in the rapidity range $2.5<y<4$ reaches about 7 (2) in the $p_{\rm T}$ range 0-0.3 GeV/$c$ in the 70-90% (50-70%) centrality class. The J/$\psi$ production cross section associated with the observed excess is obtained under the hypothesis that coherent photoproduction of J/$\psi$ is the underlying physics mechanism. If confirmed, the observation of J/$\psi$ coherent photoproduction in Pb-Pb collisions at impact parameters smaller than twice the nuclear radius opens new theoretical and experimental challenges and opportunities. In particular, coherent photoproduction accompanying hadronic collisions may provide insight into the dynamics of photoproduction and nuclear reactions, as well as become a novel probe of the Quark-Gluon Plasma.