The first measurements of $\mathrm{K^{*}(892)^{0}}$ resonance production as a function of charged-particle multiplicity in Xe$-$Xe collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}=$ 5.44 TeV and pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}=$ 5.02 TeV using the ALICE detector are presented. The resonance is reconstructed at midrapidity ($|y|< 0.5$) using the hadronic decay channel $\mathrm{K^{*0}} \rightarrow \mathrm{K^{\pm} \pi^{\mp}}$. Measurements of transverse-momentum integrated yield, mean transverse-momentum, nuclear modification factor of $\mathrm{K^{*0}}$, and yield ratios of resonance to stable hadron ($\mathrm{K^{*0}}$/K) are compared across different collision systems (pp, p$-$Pb, Xe$-$Xe, and Pb$-$Pb) at similar collision energies to investigate how the production of $\mathrm{K^{*0}}$ resonances depends on the size of the system formed in these collisions. The hadronic rescattering effect is found to be independent of the size of colliding systems and mainly driven by the produced charged-particle multiplicity, which is a proxy of the volume of produced matter at the chemical freeze-out. In addition, the production yields of $\mathrm{K^{*0}}$ in Xe$-$Xe collisions are utilized to constrain the dependence of the kinetic freeze-out temperature on the system size using HRG-PCE model.
$p_{\rm T}$-distributions of $\rm{K}^{*}$ (average of particle and anti-particle) meson measured in pp collisions at \sqrt{s}$ = 5.02 TeV for 0-1\% multiplicity class.
$p_{\rm T}$-distributions of $\rm{K}^{*}$ (average of particle and anti-particle) meson measured in pp collisions at \sqrt{s}$ = 5.02 TeV for 1-5\% multiplicity class.
$p_{\rm T}$-distributions of $\rm{K}^{*}$ (average of particle and anti-particle) meson measured in pp collisions at \sqrt{s}$ = 5.02 TeV for 5-10\% multiplicity class.
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.
$p_{\rm T}$-distributions of $\rm{K}^{*}$ (average of particle and anti-particle) meson measured in Pb-Pb collisions at \sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV for 0-10\% centrality.
$p_{\rm T}$-distributions of $\rm{K}^{*}$ (average of particle and anti-particle) meson measured in Pb-Pb collisions at \sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV for 10-20\% centrality.
$p_{\rm T}$-distributions of $\rm{K}^{*}$ (average of particle and anti-particle) meson measured in Pb-Pb collisions at \sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV for 20-40\% centrality.
The production of $\Upsilon$ mesons in Pb-Pb collisions at a centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 5 TeV is measured with the muon spectrometer of the ALICE detector at the LHC. The yields as well as the nuclear modification factors are determined in the forward rapidity region $2.5<y<4.0$, as a function of rapidity, transverse momentum and collision centrality. The results show that the production of the $\Upsilon$(1S) meson is suppressed by a factor of about three with respect to the production in proton-proton collisions. For the first time, a significant signal for the $\Upsilon$(2S) meson is observed at forward rapidity, indicating a suppression stronger by about a factor 2-3 with respect to the ground state. The measurements are compared with transport, hydrodynamic, comover and statistical hadronisation model calculations.
Rapidity-differential yield of $\Upsilon(1\mathrm{S}) \rightarrow \mu^{+}\mu^{-}$ divided by the average nuclear overlap function $\langle T_{\mathrm{AA}} \rangle$ for the 0–90% centrality interval ($\langle T_{\mathrm{AA}} \rangle$ = 6.28 $\pm$ 0.06 mb$^{-1}$).
Rapidity-differential yield of $\Upsilon(2\mathrm{S}) \rightarrow \mu^{+}\mu^{-}$ divided by the average nuclear overlap function $\langle T_{\mathrm{AA}} \rangle$ for the 0–90% centrality interval ($\langle T_{\mathrm{AA}} \rangle$ = 6.28 $\pm$ 0.06 mb$^{-1}$).
$p_{\mathrm{T}}$-differential yield of $\Upsilon(1\mathrm{S}) \rightarrow \mu^{+}\mu^{-}$ divided by the average nuclear overlap function $\langle T_{\mathrm{AA}} \rangle$ for the 0–90% centrality interval ($\langle T_{\mathrm{AA}} \rangle$ = 6.28 $\pm$ 0.06 mb$^{-1}$).
Neutral pion and $\eta$ meson production in the transverse momentum range 1 < $p_{T}$ < 20 GeV/$c$ have been measured at mid-rapidity by the ALICE experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in central and semi-central Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 2.76 TeV. These results were obtained using the photon conversion method as well as the PHOS and EMCal detectors. The results extend the upper $p_{T}$ reach of the previous ALICE $\pi^{0}$ measurements from 12 GeV/$c$ to 20 GeV/$c$ and present the first measurement of $\eta$ meson production in heavy-ion collisions at the LHC. The $\eta/\pi^{0}$ ratio is similar for the two centralities and reaches at high $p_{T}$ a plateau value of 0.457 $\pm$ 0.013$^{stat}$ $\pm$ 0.018$^{syst}$. A suppression of similar magnitude for $\pi^{0}$ and $\eta$ meson production is observed in Pb-Pb collisions with respect to their production in pp collisions scaled by the number of binary nucleon-nucleon collisions. We discuss the results in terms of NLO pQCD predictions and hydrodynamic models. The measurements show a stronger suppression with respect to what was observed at lower center-of-mass energies in the $p_{T}$ range 6 < $p_{T}$ < 10 GeV/$c$. At $p_{T}$ < 3 GeV/$c$, hadronization models describe the $\pi^{0}$ results while for the $\eta$ some tension is observed.
Invariant yields of the $\pi^{0}$ meson in the centrality class 0-10% in Pb-Pb collisions at sqrt{s_NN} = 2.76 TeV at mid-rapidity.
Invariant yields of the $\pi^{0}$ meson in the centrality class 20-50% in Pb-Pb collisions at sqrt{s_NN} = 2.76 TeV at mid-rapidity.
Invariant yields of the $\eta$ meson in the centrality class 0-10% in Pb-Pb collisions at sqrt{s_NN} = 2.76 TeV at mid-rapidity.
The ALICE Collaboration has measured the inclusive production of muons from heavy flavour decays at forward rapidity, 2.5 < y < 4, in pp and Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt {s_{NN}}$ = 2.76 TeV. The $p_{\rm T}$-differential inclusive cross section of muons from heavy flavour decays in pp collisions is compared to perturbative QCD calculations. The nuclear modification factor is studied as a function of pt and collision centrality. A weak suppression is measured in peripheral collisions. In the most central collisions, a suppression of a factor of about 3-4 is observed in 6 < $p_{\rm T}$ < 10 GeV/$c$. The suppression shows no significant $p_{\rm T}$ dependence.
Transverse momentum differential inclusive cross section of muons from heavy-flavour decays in the rapidity range 2.5-4.
RAA of muons from heavy-flavour decays in the rapidity range 2.5-4 as a function of PT in the 0-10% and 40-80% centrality classes. The second (sys) error is the separate normalization error for each class.
RAA of muons from heavy-flavour decays as a function of the mean number of participating nucleons, NPART, in the rapidity range 2.5-4.0 and PT 6-10 GeV. The first (sys) error is the correlated systematic error and the second is the uncorrelated systematic error.
Inclusive transverse momentum spectra of primary charged particles in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{\rm NN}}}$ = 2.76 TeV have been measured by the ALICE Collaboration at the LHC. The data are presented for central and peripheral collisions, corresponding to 0-5% and 70-80% of the hadronic Pb-Pb cross section. The measured charged particle spectra in $|\eta|<0.8$ and $0.3 < p_T < 20$ GeV/$c$ are compared to the expectation in pp collisions at the same $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$, scaled by the number of underlying nucleon-nucleon collisions. The comparison is expressed in terms of the nuclear modification factor $R_{\rm AA}$. The result indicates only weak medium effects ($R_{\rm AA} \approx $ 0.7) in peripheral collisions. In central collisions, $R_{\rm AA}$ reaches a minimum of about 0.14 at $p_{\rm T}=6$-7GeV/$c$ and increases significantly at larger $p_{\rm T}$. The measured suppression of high-$p_{\rm T}$ particles is stronger than that observed at lower collision energies, indicating that a very dense medium is formed in central Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC.
PT distributions of primary charged particles at mid-rapidity in central and peripheral PB-PB collisions.
PT distributions of primary charged particles at mid-rapidity in central and peripheral PB-PB collisions estimated from scaled PP data as described in the text of the paper.
Measurments of RAA, the nuclear modification factor (rate of PB-PB to P P cross section) in the central region.
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