The production cross sections of the prompt charmed mesons D$^0$, D$^+$, D$^{*+}$ and D$_s$ were measured at mid-rapidity in p-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. D mesons were reconstructed from their decays D$^0\rightarrow{\rm K}^-\pi^+$, D$^+\rightarrow{\rm K}^-\pi^+\pi^+$, D$^{*+}\rightarrow D^0\pi^+$, D$_s^+\rightarrow\phi\pi^+\rightarrow{\rm K}^-{\rm K}^+\pi^+$, and their charge conjugates. The $p_{\rm T}$-differential production cross sections were measured at mid-rapidity in the interval $1<p_{\rm T}<24$ GeV/$c$ for D$^0$, D$^+$ and D$^{*+}$ mesons and in $2<p_{\rm T}<12$ GeV/$c$ for D$_s$ mesons, using an analysis method based on the selection of decay topologies displaced from the interaction vertex. The production cross sections of the D$^0$, D$^+$ and D$^{*+}$ mesons were also measured in three $p_{\rm T}$ intervals as a function of the rapidity $y_{\rm cms}$ in the centre-of-mass system in $-1.26<y_{\rm cms}<0.34$. In addition, the prompt D$^0$ cross section was measured in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV and p-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=5.02$ TeV down to $p_{\rm T}=0$ using an analysis technique that is based on the estimation and subtraction of the combinatorial background, without reconstruction of the D$^0$ decay vertex. The nuclear modification factor $R_{\rm pPb}(p_{\rm T})$, defined as the ratio of the $p_{\rm T}$-differential D-meson cross section in p-Pb collisions and that in pp collisions scaled by the mass number of the Pb nucleus, was calculated for the four D-meson species and found to be compatible with unity within experimental uncertainties. The results are compared to theoretical calculations that include cold-nuclear-matter effects and to transport model calculations incorporating the interactions of charm quarks with an expanding deconfined medium.
We report on the inclusive production cross sections of J/$\psi$, $\psi$(2S), $\Upsilon$(1S), $\Upsilon$(2S) and $\Upsilon$(3S), measured at forward rapidity with the ALICE detector in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s}=8$ TeV. The analysis is based on data collected at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 1.28 pb$^{-1}$. Quarkonia are reconstructed in the dimuon-decay channel. The differential production cross sections are measured as a function of the transverse momentum $p_{\rm T}$ and rapidity $y$, over the $p_{\rm T}$ 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 cross sections, integrated over $p_{\rm T}$ and $y$, and assuming unpolarized quarkonia, are $\sigma_{{\rm J}/\psi} = 8.98\pm0.04\pm0.82$ $\mu$b, $\sigma_{\psi{\rm (2S)}} = 1.23\pm0.08\pm0.22$ $\mu$b, $\sigma_{\Upsilon{\rm(1S)}} = 71\pm6\pm7$ nb, $\sigma_{\Upsilon{\rm(2S)}} = 26\pm5\pm4$ nb and $\sigma_{\Upsilon{\rm(3S)}} = 9\pm4\pm1$ nb, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second one is systematic. These values agree, within at most $1.4\sigma$, with measurements performed by the LHCb collaboration in the same rapidity range.
The production of $\Upsilon (nS)$ mesons ($n=1,2,3$) in $p$Pb and Pb$p$ collisions at a centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=8.16$ TeV is measured by the LHCb experiment, using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 31.8 nb$^{-1}$. The $\Upsilon (nS)$ mesons are reconstructed through their decays into two opposite-sign muons. The measurements comprise the differential production cross-sections of the $\Upsilon (1S)$ and $\Upsilon (2S)$ states, their forward-to-backward ratios and nuclear modification factors, performed as a function of the transverse momentum $p_{\mathrm{T}}$ and rapidity in the nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass frame $y^*$ of the $\Upsilon (nS)$ states, in the kinematic range $p_{\rm{T}}<25$ GeV/$c$ and $1.5<y^*<4.0$ ($-5.0<y^*<-2.5$) for $p$Pb (Pb$p$) collisions. In addition, production cross-sections for $\Upsilon (3S)$ are measured integrated over phase space and the production ratios between all three $\Upsilon (nS)$ states are determined. The measurements are compared to theoretical predictions and suppressions for quarkonium in $p$Pb collisions are observed.
The inclusive production of the $\psi$(2S) charmonium state was studied as a function of centrality in p-Pb collisions at the nucleon-nucleon center of mass energy $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV at the CERN LHC. The measurement was performed with the ALICE detector in the center of mass rapidity ranges $-4.46<y_{\rm cms}<-2.96$ and $2.03<y_{\rm cms}<3.53$, down to zero transverse momentum, by reconstructing the $\psi$(2S) decay to a muon pair. The $\psi$(2S) production cross section $\sigma_{\psi(\rm 2S)}$ is presented as a function of the collision centrality, which is estimated through the energy deposited in forward rapidity calorimeters. The relative strength of nuclear effects on the $\psi$(2S) and on the corresponding 1S charmonium state J/$\psi$ is then studied by means of the double ratio of cross sections $[\sigma_{\psi(\rm 2S)}/\sigma_{\rm J/\psi}]_{\rm pPb}/[\sigma_{\psi(\rm 2S)}/\sigma_{\rm J/\psi}]_{\rm pp}$ between p-Pb and pp collisions, and by the values of the nuclear modification factors for the two charmonium states. The results show a large suppression of $\psi$(2S) production relative to the J/$\psi$ at backward (negative) rapidity, corresponding to the flight direction of the Pb-nucleus, while at forward (positive) rapidity the suppressions of the two states are comparable. Finally, comparisons to results from lower energy experiments and to available theoretical models are presented.
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.
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