The ALICE experiment has measured low-mass dimuon production in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 7$ TeV in the dimuon rapidity region 2.5
The production of mesons containing strange quarks (K$^0_s$, $\phi$) and both singly and doubly strange baryons ($\Lambda$, Anti-$\Lambda$, and $\Xi$+Anti-$\Xi$) are measured at central rapidity in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 0.9 TeV with the ALICE experiment at the LHC. The results are obtained from the analysis of about 250 k minimum bias events recorded in 2009. Measurements of yields (dN/dy) and transverse momentum spectra at central rapidities for inelastic pp collisions are presented. For mesons, we report yields (
The first measurements of the invariant differential cross sections of inclusive $\pi^0$ and $\eta$ meson production at mid-rapidity in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=0.9$ TeV and $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV are reported. The $\pi^0$ measurement covers the ranges $0.4
The inclusive production cross sections at forward rapidity of J/$\psi$, $\psi$(2S), $\Upsilon$(1S) and $\Upsilon$(2S) are measured in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 7$ TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The analysis is based in a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.35 pb$^{-1}$. Quarkonia are reconstructed in the dimuon-decay channel and the signal yields are evaluated by fitting the $\mu^+\mu^-$ invariant mass distributions. The differential production cross sections are measured as a function of the transverse momentum $p_{\rm T}$ and rapidity $y$, over the ranges $0 < p_{\rm T} < 20$ GeV/$c$ for J/$\psi$, $0 < p_{\rm T} < 12$ GeV/$c$ for all other resonances and for $2.5 < y < 4$. The measured cross sections integrated over $p_{\rm T}$ and $y$, and assuming unpolarized quarkonia, are: $\sigma_{J/\psi} = 6.69 \pm 0.04 \pm 0.63$ $\mu$b, $\sigma_{\psi^{\prime}} = 1.13 \pm 0.07 \pm 0.14$ $\mu$b, $\sigma_{\Upsilon{\rm(1S)}} = 54.2 \pm 5.0 \pm 6.7$ nb and $\sigma_{\Upsilon{\rm (2S)}} = 18.4 \pm 3.7 \pm 2.2$ nb, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second one is systematic. The results are compared to measurements performed by other LHC experiments and to theoretical models.
The $p_{\rm T}$-differential inclusive production cross section of the prompt charm-strange meson $\rm D_s^+$ in the rapidity range $|y|<0.5$ was measured in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV at the LHC using the ALICE detector. The analysis was performed on a data sample of $2.98 \times 10^8$ events collected with a minimum-bias trigger. The corresponding integrated luminosity is $L_{\rm int}=4.8$/nb. Reconstructing the decay ${\rm D_s^{+}\to \phi\pi^+}$, with $\phi\to {\rm K}^-{\rm K}^+$, and its charge conjugate, about 480 ${\rm D_s^{\pm}}$ mesons were counted, after selection cuts, in the transverse momentum range $2
The ALICE collaboration at the CERN Large Hadron Collider reports the first measurement of the inclusive differential jet cross section at mid-rapidity in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 2.76$ TeV, with integrated luminosity of 13.6 nb$^{-1}$. Jets are measured over the transverse momentum range 20 to 125 GeV/c and are corrected to the particle level. Calculations based on Next-to-Leading Order perturbative QCD are in good agreement with the measurements. The ratio of inclusive jet cross sections for jet radii $R = 0.2$ and $R = 0.4$ is reported, and is also well reproduced by a Next-to-Leading Order perturbative QCD calculation when hadronization effects are included.
The first measurement of neutron emission in electromagnetic dissociation of $^{208}$Pb nuclei at the LHC is presented. The measurement is performed using the neutron Zero Degree Calorimeters of the ALICE experiment, which detect neutral particles close to beam rapidity. The measured cross sections of single and mutual electromagnetic dissociation of Pb nuclei at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 2.76 TeV with neutron emission are $\sigma_{\rm single\ EMD} = 187.4\pm0.2$ (stat.) $^{+13.2} _{-11.2}$ (syst.) b and $\sigma_{\rm mutual\ EMD} = 5.7\pm0.1$ (stat.) $\pm$0.4 (syst.) b, respectively. The experimental results are compared to the predictions from a relativistic electromagnetic dissociation model.
The ratios of yields of anti-baryons to baryons probes the mechanisms of baryon-number transport. Results for $\bar{\rm p}/{\rm p}$, $\bar{\rm \Lambda}/{\rm \Lambda}$, $\rm\bar{\Xi}$$^{+}/{\rm \Xi}^{-}$ and $\rm\bar{\Omega}$$^{+}/{\rm \Omega}^{-}$ in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 0.9$, 2.76 and 7 TeV, measured with the ALICE detector at the LHC, are reported. Within the experimental uncertainties and ranges covered by our measurement, these ratios are independent of rapidity, transverse momentum and multiplicity for all measured energies. The results are compared to expectations from event generators, such as PYTHIA and HIJING-B, that are used to model the particle production in pp collisions. The energy dependence of $\bar{\rm p}/{\rm p}$, $\bar{\rm \Lambda}/{\rm \Lambda}$, $\rm\bar{\Xi}$$^{+}/{\rm \Xi^{-}}$ and $\rm\bar{\Omega}$$^{+}/{\rm \Omega^{-}}$, reaching values compatible with unity for $\sqrt{s} = 7$ TeV, complement the earlier $\bar{\rm p}/{\rm p}$ measurement of ALICE. These dependencies can be described by exchanges with the Regge-trajectory intercept of $\alpha_{\rm {J}} \approx 0.5$, which are suppressed with increasing rapidity interval ${\rm \Delta} y$. Any significant contribution of an exchange not suppressed at large ${\rm \Delta} y$ (reached at LHC energies) is disfavoured.
In this paper measurements are presented of $\rm \pi$$^+$, $\rm \pi$$^-$, K$^+$, K$^-$, p and $\overline{\rm p}$ production at mid-rapidity < 0.5, in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76$ TeV as a function of centrality. The measurement covers the transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) range from 100, 200, 300 MeV/$c$ up to 3, 3, 4.6 GeV/$c$, for $\rm\pi$, K, and p respectively. The measured $p_{\rm T}$ distributions and yields are compared to expectations based on hydrodynamic, thermal and recombination models. The spectral shapes of central collisions show a stronger radial flow than measured at lower energies, which can be described in hydrodynamic models. In peripheral collisions, the $p_{\rm T}$ distributions are not well reproduced by hydrodynamic models. Ratios of integrated particle yields are found to be nearly independent of centrality. The yield of protons normalized to pions is a factor ~1.5 lower than the expectation from thermal models.
The ALICE Collaboration has studied the inclusive production of the charmonium state $\psi(2S)$ in proton-lead (p-Pb) collisions at the nucleon-nucleon centre of mass energy $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV at the CERN LHC. The measurement was performed at forward ($2.03