We report on the first measurement of inclusive J/$\psi$ elliptic flow, $v_2$, in heavy-ion collisions at the LHC. The measurement is performed with the ALICE detector in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76$ TeV in the rapidity range $2.5 < y < 4.0$. The dependence of the J/$\psi$ $v_2$ on the collision centrality and on the J/$\psi$ transverse momentum is studied in the range $0 < p_{\rm T} < 10$ GeV/$c$. For semi-central Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76$ TeV, an indication of non-zero $v_2$ is observed with a maximum value of $v_2 = 0.116 \pm 0.046 {\rm (stat.)} \pm 0.029 {\rm (syst.)}$ for J/$\psi$ in the transverse momentum range $2 < p_{\rm T} < 4$ GeV/$c$. The elliptic flow measurement complements the previously reported ALICE results on the inclusive J/$\psi$ nuclear modification factor and favors the scenario of a significant fraction of J/$\psi$ production from charm quarks in a deconfined partonic phase.
Azimuthally anisotropic distributions of D$^0$, D$^+$ and D$^{*+}$ mesons were studied in the central rapidity region ($|y|<0.8$) in Pb-Pb collisions at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76$ TeV per nucleon-nucleon collision, with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The second Fourier coefficient $v_2$ (commonly denoted elliptic flow) was measured in the centrality class 30-50% as a function of the D meson transverse momentum $p_{\rm T}$, in the range 2-16 GeV/$c$. The measured $v_2$ of D mesons is comparable in magnitude to that of light-flavour hadrons. It is positive in the range $2 < p_{\rm T} < 6$ GeV/$c$ with $5.7\sigma$ significance, based on the combination of statistical and systematic uncertainties.
We report the first results of elliptic ($v_2$), triangular ($v_3$) and quadrangular flow ($v_4$) of charged particles in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=5.02$ TeV with the ALICE detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The measurements are performed in the central pseudorapidity region $|\eta|<0.8$ and for the transverse momentum range $0.2<p_{\rm T}<5$ GeV/$c$. The anisotropic flow is measured using two-particle correlations with a pseudorapidity gap greater than one unit and with the multi-particle cumulant method. Compared to results from Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=2.76$ TeV, the anisotropic flow coefficients $v_{2}$, $v_{3}$ and $v_{4}$ are found to increase by ($3.0\pm0.6$)%, ($4.3\pm1.4$)% and ($10.2\pm3.8$)%, respectively, in the centrality range 0-50%. This increase can be attributed mostly to an increase of the average transverse momentum between the two energies. The measurements are found to be compatible with hydrodynamic model calculations. This comparison provides a unique opportunity to test the validity of the hydrodynamic picture and the power to further discriminate between various possibilities for the temperature dependence of shear viscosity to entropy density ratio of the produced matter in heavy-ion collisions at the highest energies.
We report the first measurement of charged particle elliptic flow in Pb-Pb collisions at 2.76 TeV with the ALICE detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The measurement is performed in the central pseudorapidity region (|$\eta$|<0.8) and transverse momentum range 0.2< $p_{\rm T}$< 5.0 GeV/$c$. The elliptic flow signal v$_2$, measured using the 4-particle correlation method, averaged over transverse momentum and pseudorapidity is 0.087 $\pm$ 0.002 (stat) $\pm$ 0.004 (syst) in the 40-50% centrality class. The differential elliptic flow v$_2(p_{\rm T})$ reaches a maximum of 0.2 near $p_{\rm T}$ = 3 GeV/$c$. Compared to RHIC Au-Au collisions at 200 GeV, the elliptic flow increases by about 30%. Some hydrodynamic model predictions which include viscous corrections are in agreement with the observed increase.
The elliptic flow coefficient ($v_{2}$) of identified particles in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{{NN}}} = 2.76$ TeV was measured with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The results were obtained with the Scalar Product method, a two-particle correlation technique, using a pseudo-rapidity gap of $|\Delta\eta| > 0.9$ between the identified hadron under study and the reference particles. The $v_2$ is reported for $\pi^{\pm}$, $\mathrm{K}^{\pm}$, $\mathrm{K}^0_\mathrm{S}$, p+$\overline{\mathrm{p}}$, $\mathrm{\phi}$, $\Lambda$+$\overline{\mathrm{\Lambda}}$, $\Xi^-$+$\overline{\Xi}^+$ and $\Omega^-$+$\overline{\Omega}^+$ in several collision centralities. In the low transverse momentum ($p_{\mathrm{T}}$) region, $p_{\mathrm{T}} < 2 $GeV/$c$, $v_2(p_\mathrm{T})$ exhibits a particle mass dependence consistent with elliptic flow accompanied by the transverse radial expansion of the system with a common velocity field. The experimental data for $\pi^{\pm}$ and $\mathrm{K}$ are described fairly well by hydrodynamical calculations coupled to a hadronic cascade model (VISHNU) for central collisions. However, the same calculations fail to reproduce the $v_2(p_\mathrm{T})$ for p+$\overline{\mathrm{p}}$, $\mathrm{\phi}$, $\Lambda$+$\overline{\mathrm{\Lambda}}$ and $\Xi^-$+$\overline{\Xi}^+$. For transverse momentum values larger than about 3 GeV/$c$, particles tend to group according to their type, i.e. mesons and baryons. However, the experimental data at the LHC exhibit deviations from the number of constituent quark (NCQ) scaling at the level of $\pm$20$\%$ for $p_{\mathrm{T}} > 3 $GeV/$c$.
We present measurements of the azimuthal dependence of charged jet production in central and semi-central $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}$ = 2.76 TeV Pb-Pb collisions with respect to the second harmonic event plane, quantified as $v_{2}^{\mathrm{ch~jet}}$. Jet finding is performed employing the anti-$k_{\mathrm{T}}$ algorithm with a resolution parameter $R$ = 0.2 using charged tracks from the ALICE tracking system. The contribution of the azimuthal anisotropy of the underlying event is taken into account event-by-event. The remaining (statistical) region-to-region fluctuations are removed on an ensemble basis by unfolding the jet spectra for different event plane orientations independently. Significant non-zero $v_{2}^{\mathrm{ch~jet}}$ is observed in semi-central collisions (30-50\% centrality) for 20 $<$ $p_{\mathrm{T}}^{\rm ch~jet}$ $<$ 90 ${\mathrm{GeV}\kern-0.05em/\kern-0.02em c}$. The azimuthal dependence of the charged jet production is similar to the dependence observed for jets comprising both charged and neutral fragments, and compatible with measurements of the $v_2$ of single charged particles at high $p_{\mathrm{T}}$. Good agreement between the data and predictions from JEWEL, an event generator simulating parton shower evolution in the presence of a dense QCD medium, is found in semi-central collisions.
The production of the prompt charmed mesons $D^0$, $D^+$ and $D^{*+}$ relative to the reaction plane was measured in Pb-Pb collisions at a centre-of-mass energy per nucleon-nucleon collision of $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76$ TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC. D mesons were reconstructed via their hadronic decays at central rapidity in the transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) interval of 2-16 GeV/$c$. The azimuthal anisotropy is quantified in terms of the second coefficient $v_2$ in a Fourier expansion of the D meson azimuthal distribution, and in terms of the nuclear modification factor $R_{\rm AA}$, measured in the direction of the reaction plane and orthogonal to it. The $v_2$ coefficient was measured with three different methods and in three centrality classes in the interval 0-50%. A positive $v_2$ is observed in mid-central collisions (30-50% centrality class), with an mean value of $0.204_{-0.036}^{+0.099}$ (tot.unc.) in the interval $2 < p_{\rm T} < 6$ GeV/$c$, which decreases towards more central collisions (10-30% and 0-10% classes). The positive $v_2$ is also reflected in the nuclear modification factor, which shows a stronger suppression in the direction orthogonal to the reaction plane for mid-central collisions. The measurements are compared to theoretical calculations of charm quark transport and energy loss in high-density strongly-interacting matter at high temperature. The models that include substantial elastic interactions with an expanding medium provide a good description of the observed anisotropy. However, they are challenged to simultaneously describe the strong suppression of high-$p_{\rm T}$ yield of D mesons in central collisions and their azimuthal anisotropy in non-central collisions.
The azimuthal anisotropy coefficient $v_2$ of prompt D$^0$, D$^+$, D$^{*+}$ and D$_s^+$ mesons was measured in mid-central (30-50% centrality class) Pb-Pb collisions at a centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 5.02$ TeV, with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The D mesons were reconstructed via their hadronic decays at mid-rapidity, $|y|<0.8$, in the transverse momentum interval $1<p_{\rm T}<24$ GeV/$c$. The measured D-meson $v_2$ has similar values as that of charged pions. The D$_s^+$ $v_2$, measured for the first time, is found to be compatible with that of non-strange D mesons. The measurements are compared with theoretical calculations of charm-quark transport in a hydrodynamically expanding medium and have the potential to constrain medium parameters.
Two-particle angular correlations between trigger particles in the forward pseudorapidity range ($2.5 < |\eta| < 4.0$) and associated particles in the central range ($|\eta| < 1.0$) are measured with the ALICE detector in p-Pb collisions at a nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV. The trigger particles are reconstructed using the muon spectrometer, and the associated particles by the central barrel tracking detectors. In high-multiplicity events, the double-ridge structure, previously discovered in two-particle angular correlations at midrapidity, is found to persist to the pseudorapidity ranges studied in this Letter. The second-order Fourier coefficients for muons in high-multiplicity events are extracted after jet-like correlations from low-multiplicity events have been subtracted. The coefficients are found to have a similar transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) dependence in p-going (p-Pb) and Pb-going (Pb-p) configurations, with the Pb-going coefficients larger by about $16\pm6$%, rather independent of $p_{\rm T}$ within the uncertainties of the measurement. The data are compared with calculations using the AMPT model, which predicts a different $p_{\rm T}$ and $\eta$ dependence than observed in the data. The results are sensitive to the parent particle $v_2$ and composition of reconstructed muon tracks, where the contribution from heavy flavour decays are expected to dominate at $p_{\rm T}>2$ GeV/$c$.
We present the first measurement of the two-particle transverse momentum differential correlation function, $P_2\equiv\langle \Delta p_{\rm T} \Delta p_{\rm T} \rangle /\langle p_{\rm T} \rangle^2$, in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{\rm NN}}} =$ 2.76 TeV. Results for $P_2$ are reported as a function of relative pseudorapidity ($\Delta \eta$) and azimuthal angle ($\Delta \varphi$) between two particles for different collision centralities. The $\Delta \phi$ dependence is found to be largely independent of $\Delta \eta$ for $|\Delta \eta| \geq$ 0.9. In 5% most central Pb-Pb collisions, the two-particle transverse momentum correlation function exhibits a clear double-hump structure around $\Delta \varphi = \pi$ (i.e., on the away side), which is not observed in number correlations in the same centrality range, and thus provides an indication of the dominance of triangular flow in this collision centrality. Fourier decompositions of $P_2$, studied as a function of collision centrality, show that correlations at $|\Delta \eta| \geq$ 0.9 can be well reproduced by a flow ansatz based on the notion that measured momentum correlations are strictly determined by the collective motion of the system.