Understanding the production mechanism of light (anti)nuclei is one of the key challenges of nuclear physics and has important consequences for astrophysics, since it provides an input for indirect dark-matter searches in space. In this paper, the latest results about the production of light (anti)nuclei in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV are presented, focusing on the comparison with the predictions of coalescence and thermal models. For the first time, the coalescence parameters $B_2$ for deuterons and $B_3$ for helions are compared with parameter-free theoretical predictions that are directly constrained by the femtoscopic measurement of the source radius in the same event class. A fair description of the data with a Gaussian wave function is observed for both deuteron and helion, supporting the coalescence mechanism for the production of light (anti)nuclei in pp collisions. This method paves the way for future investigations of the internal structure of more complex nuclear clusters, including the hypertriton.
(Anti)proton spectrum in HM V0M multiplicity class
(Anti)proton spectrum in HM I V0M multiplicity class
(Anti)proton spectrum in HM II V0M multiplicity class
The event-by-event correlations between three flow amplitudes are measured for the first time in Pb--Pb collisions, using higher-order Symmetric Cumulants. We find that different three-harmonic correlations develop during the collective evolution of the medium, when compared with correlations that exist in the initial state. These new results cannot be interpreted in terms of previous lower-order flow measurements, since contributions from two-harmonic correlations are explicitly removed in the new observables. Comparison with Monte Carlo simulations provides new and independent constraints for the initial conditions and system properties of nuclear matter created in heavy-ion collisions.
Centrality dependence of ${\rm SC}(2,3,4)$ in Pb--Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76$~TeV.
Centrality dependence of ${\rm SC}(2,3,5)$ in Pb--Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76$~TeV.
Centrality dependence of ${\rm SC}(2,4,6)$ in Pb--Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76$~TeV.
The multiplicity dependence of the pseudorapidity density of charged particles in proton-proton (pp) collisions at centre-of-mass energies $\sqrt{s}$ = 5.02, 7 and 13 TeV measured by ALICE is reported. The analysis relies on track segments measured in the midrapidity range ($|\eta| < 1.5$). Results are presented for inelastic events having at least one charged particle produced in the pseudorapidity interval $|\eta|<1$ ($\mathrm{INEL}_{>0}$). The multiplicity dependence of the pseudorapidy density of charged particles is measured with mid and forward rapidity multiplicity estimators, the latter being less affected by autocorrelations. A detailed comparison with predictions from the PYTHIA 8 and EPOS LHC event generators is also presented. Both generators provide a good description of the data.
Charged-particle pseudorapidity density for forward multiplicity classes as a function of $\eta$ in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 5.02\,\mathrm{TeV}$. Statistical errors are generally insignificant.
Charged-particle pseudorapidity density for forward multiplicity classes as a function of $\eta$ in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 7\,\mathrm{TeV}$. Statistical errors are generally insignificant.
Charged-particle pseudorapidity density for forward multiplicity classes as a function of $\eta$ in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13\,\mathrm{TeV}$. Statistical errors are generally insignificant.
The elliptic flow of electrons from heavy-flavour hadron decays at mid-rapidity ($|y|$ $<$ 0.7) is measured in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76$ TeV with ALICE at the LHC. The particle azimuthal distribution with respect to the reaction plane can be parametrized with a Fourier expansion, where the second coefficient ($v_{\rm 2}$) represents the elliptic flow. The $v_{\rm 2}$ coefficient of inclusive electrons is measured in three centrality classes (0-10%, 10-20% and 20-40%) with the event plane and the scalar product methods in the transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) intervals 0.5-13 GeV/$c$ and 0.5-8 GeV/$c$, respectively. After subtracting the background, mainly from photon conversions and Dalitz decays of neutral mesons, a positive $v_{\rm 2}$ of electrons from heavy-flavour hadron decays is observed in all centrality classes, with a maximum significance of $5.9\sigma$ in the interval $2 <$ $p_{\rm T}$ $<$ 2.5 GeV/$c$ in semi-central collisions (20-40%). The value of $v_{\rm 2}$ decreases towards more central collisions at low and intermediate $p_{\rm T}$ (0.5 $<$ $p_{\rm T}$ $<$ 3 GeV/$c$). The $v_{\rm 2}$ of electrons from heavy-flavour hadron decays at mid-rapidity is found to be similar to the one of muons from heavy-flavour hadron decays at forward rapidity (2.5 $<$ $y$ $<$ 4). The results are described within uncertainties by model calculations including substantial elastic interactions of heavy quarks with an expanding strongly-interacting medium.
Hadronic resonances are used to probe the hadron gas produced in the late stage of heavy-ion collisions since they decay on the same timescale, of the order of 1 to 10 fm/$c$, as the decoupling time of the system. In the hadron gas, (pseudo)elastic scatterings among the products of resonances that decayed before the kinetic freeze-out and regeneration processes counteract each other, the net effect depending on the resonance lifetime, the duration of the hadronic phase, and the hadronic cross sections at play. In this context, the $\Sigma(1385)^{\pm}$ particle is of particular interest as models predict that regeneration dominates over rescattering despite its relatively short lifetime of about 5.5 fm/$c$. The first measurement of the $\Sigma(1385)^{\pm}$ resonance production at midrapidity in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}= 5.02$ TeV with the ALICE detector is presented in this Letter. The resonances are reconstructed via their hadronic decay channel, $\Lambda\pi$, as a function of the transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) and the collision centrality. The results are discussed in comparison with the measured yield of pions and with expectations from the statistical hadronization model as well as commonly employed event generators, including PYTHIA8/Angantyr and EPOS3 coupled to the UrQMD hadronic cascade afterburner. None of the models can describe the data. For $\Sigma(1385)^{\pm}$, a similar behaviour as ${\rm K}^{*} (892)^{0}$ is observed in data unlike the predictions of EPOS3 with afterburner.
We report on the measurement of freeze-out radii for pairs of identical-charge pions measured in Pb--Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=2.76$ TeV as a function of collision centrality and the average transverse momentum of the pair $k_{\rm T}$. Three-dimensional sizes of the system (femtoscopic radii), as well as direction-averaged one-dimensional radii are extracted. The radii decrease with $k_{\rm T}$, following a power-law behavior. This is qualitatively consistent with expectations from a collectively expanding system, produced in hydrodynamic calculations. The radii also scale linearly with $\left< \mathrm{d}N_{\rm ch}/\mathrm{d}\eta \right>^{1/3}$. This behaviour is compared to world data on femtoscopic radii in heavy-ion collisions. While the dependence is qualitatively similar to results at smaller $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$, a decrease in the $R_{\rm out}/R_{\rm side}$ ratio is seen, which is in qualitative agreement with specific predictions from hydrodynamic models. The results provide further evidence for the production of a collective, strongly coupled system in heavy-ion collisions at the LHC.
The first measurement of the $\Upsilon(1{\rm S})$ elliptic flow coefficient ($v_2$) is performed at forward rapidity (2.5 $<$ $y$ $<$ 4) in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 5.02$ TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The results are obtained with the scalar product method and are reported as a function of transverse momentum ($p_{\rm{T}}$) up to 15 GeV/$c$ in the 5-60% centrality interval. The measured $\Upsilon(1{\rm S})$ $v_2$ is consistent with zero and with the small positive values predicted by transport models within uncertainties. The $v_2$ coefficient in 2 $<$ $p_{\rm T}$ $<$ 15 GeV/$c$ is lower than that of inclusive J/$\psi$ mesons in the same $p_{\rm{T}}$ interval by 2.6 standard deviations. These results, combined with earlier suppression measurements, are in agreement with a scenario in which the $\Upsilon$(1S) production in Pb-Pb collisions at LHC energies is dominated by dissociation limited to the early stage of the collision whereas in the J/$\psi$ case there is substantial experimental evidence of an additional regeneration component.
We present a study of the inclusive charged-particle transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) spectra as a function of charged-particle multiplicity density at mid-pseudorapidity, ${\rm d}N_{\rm ch}/{\rm d}\eta$, in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 5.02 and 13 TeV covering the kinematic range $|\eta|<0.8$ and $0.15<p_{\rm{T}}<20$ GeV/$c$. The results are presented for events with at least one charged particle in $|\eta|<1$ (INEL$ >0$). The $p_{\rm T}$ spectra are reported for two multiplicity estimators covering different pseudorapidity regions. The $p_{\rm T}$ spectra normalized to that for INEL $>0$ show little energy dependence. Moreover, the high-$p_{\rm T}$ yields of charged particles increase faster than the charged-particle multiplicity density. The average $\it{p}_{\rm T}$ as a function of multiplicity and transverse spherocity is reported for pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV. For low- (high-) spherocity events, corresponding to jet-like (isotropic) events, the average $p_{\rm T}$ is higher (smaller) than that measured in INEL $>0$ pp collisions. Within uncertainties, the functional form of $\langle p_{\rm T} \rangle(N_{\rm ch})$ is not affected by the spherocity selection. While EPOS LHC gives a good description of many features of data, PYTHIA overestimates the average $p_{\rm T}$ in jet-like events.
The NA62 experiment reports the branching ratio measurement BR$(K^+ \rightarrow \pi^+ \nu\bar{\nu}) = (10.6^{+4.0}_{-3.4} |_{\rm stat} \pm 0.9_{\rm syst}) \times 10 ^{-11}$ at 68% CL, based on the observation of 20 signal candidates with an expected background of 7.0 events from the total data sample collected at the CERN SPS during 2016-2018. This provides evidence for the very rare $K^+ \rightarrow \pi^+ \nu\bar{\nu}$ decay, observed with a significance of 3.4$\sigma$. The experiment achieves a single event sensitivity of $(0.839\pm 0.054)\times 10^{-11}$, corresponding to 10.0 events assuming the Standard Model branching ratio of $(8.4\pm1.0)\times10^{-11}$. This measurement is also used to set limits on BR($K^+ \to \pi^+ X$), where $X$ is a scalar or pseudo-scalar particle. Details are given of the analysis of the 2018 data sample, which corresponds to about 80% of the total data sample.
We present results obtained from a study of the structure of hadronic events recorded by the L3 detector at a centre-of-mass energy of 183 GeV. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 55.3 pb −1 . The distributions of event shape variables and the energy dependence of their mean values are measured. From a comparison with resummed O ( α s 2 ) QCD calculations, we determine the strong coupling constant α s (183 GeV )=0.1086 ± 0.0026 (exp) ± 0.0054 (th) . The charged particle multiplicity distribution and momentum spectrum are studied and the energy dependence of the peak position of the ξ (=−ln x p ) distribution is compared with lower energy measurements and QCD expectations.
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