Measurements of the production of muons from heavy-flavour hadron decays in Pb$-$Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = $5.02$ and $2.76$ TeV using the ALICE detector at the LHC are reported. The nuclear modification factor $R_{\rm AA}$ at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV is measured at forward rapidity ($2.5 < y <4$) as a function of transverse momentum $p_{\rm T}$ in central, semi-central, and peripheral collisions over a wide $p_{\rm T}$ interval, $3 < p_{\rm T} < 20$ GeV/$c$, in which muons from beauty-hadron decays are expected to take over from charm as the dominant source at high $p_{\rm T}$ ($p_{\rm T} > 7$ GeV/$c$). The $R_{\rm AA}$ shows an increase of the suppression of the yields of muons from heavy-flavour hadron decays with increasing centrality. A suppression by a factor of about three is observed in the $10\%$ most central collisions. The $R_{\rm AA}$ at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 5.02 is similar to that at 2.76 TeV. The precise $R_{\rm AA}$ measurements have the potential to distinguish between model predictions implementing different mechanisms of parton energy loss in the high-density medium formed in heavy-ion collisions. They place important constraints for the understanding of the heavy-quark interaction with the hot and dense QCD medium.
The transverse structure of jets was studied via jet fragmentation transverse momentum ($j_{\rm{T}}$) distributions, obtained using two-particle correlations in proton-proton and proton-lead collisions, measured with the ALICE experiment at the LHC. The highest transverse momentum particle in each event is used as the trigger particle and the region $3 < p_{\rm{Tt}} < 15$ GeV/$c$ is explored in this study. The measured distributions show a clear narrow Gaussian component and a wide non-Gaussian one. Based on Pythia simulations, the narrow component can be related to non-perturbative hadronization and the wide component to quantum chromodynamical splitting. The width of the narrow component shows a weak dependence on the transverse momentum of the trigger particle, in agreement with the expectation of universality of the hadronization process. On the other hand, the width of the wide component shows a rising trend suggesting increased branching for higher transverse momentum. The results obtained in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 7 TeV and in p-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm{NN}}}$ = 5.02 TeV are compatible within uncertainties and hence no significant cold nuclear matter effects are observed. The results are compared to previous measurements from CCOR and PHENIX as well as to Pythia 8 and Herwig 7 simulations.
On 23rd November 2009, during the early commissioning of the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC), two counter-rotating proton bunches were circulated for the first time concurrently in the machine, at the LHC injection energy of 450 GeV per beam. Although the proton intensity was very low, with only one pilot bunch per beam, and no systematic attempt was made to optimize the collision optics, all LHC experiments reported a number of collision candidates. In the ALICE experiment, the collision region was centred very well in both the longitudinal and transverse directions and 284 events were recorded in coincidence with the two passing proton bunches. The events were immediately reconstructed and analyzed both online and offline. We have used these events to measure the pseudorapidity density of charged primary particles in the central region. In the range |$\eta$| < 0.5, we obtain dNch/deta = 3.10 $\pm$ 0.13 (stat.) $\pm$ 0.22 (syst.) for all inelastic interactions, and dNch/deta = 3.51 $\pm$ 0.15 (stat.) $\pm$ 0.25 (syst.) for non-single diffractive interactions. These results are consistent with previous measurements in proton-antiproton interactions at the same centre-of-mass energy at the CERN SppS collider. They also illustrate the excellent functioning and rapid progress of the LHC accelerator, and of both the hardware and software of the ALICE experiment, in this early start-up phase.
The production of J/$\psi$ and $\psi(2S)$ was measured with the ALICE detector in Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC. The measurement was performed at forward rapidity ($2.5 < y < 4 $) down to zero transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) in the dimuon decay channel. Inclusive J/$\psi$ yields were extracted in different centrality classes and the centrality dependence of the average $p_{\rm T}$ is presented. The J/$\psi$ suppression, quantified with the nuclear modification factor ($R_{\rm AA}$), was studied as a function of centrality, transverse momentum and rapidity. Comparisons with similar measurements at lower collision energy and theoretical models indicate that the J/$\psi$ production is the result of an interplay between color screening and recombination mechanisms in a deconfined partonic medium, or at its hadronization. Results on the $\psi(2S)$ suppression are provided via the ratio of $\psi(2S)$ over J/$\psi$ measured in pp and Pb-Pb collisions.
The production of K$^{*}(892)^{0}$ and $\phi(1020)$ mesons in proton-proton (pp) and lead-lead (Pb-Pb) collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}} =$ 2.76 TeV has been analyzed using a high luminosity data sample accumulated in 2011 with the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Transverse momentum ($p_{\mathrm{T}}$) spectra have been measured for K$^{*}(892)^{0}$ and $\phi(1020)$ mesons via their hadronic decay channels for $p_{\mathrm{T}}$ up to 20 GeV/$c$. The measurements in pp collisions have been compared to model calculations and used to determine the nuclear modification factor and particle ratios. The K$^{*}(892)^{0}$/K ratio exhibits significant reduction from pp to central Pb-Pb collisions, consistent with the suppression of the K$^{*}(892)^{0}$ yield at low $p_{\mathrm{T}}$ due to rescattering of its decay products in the hadronic phase. In central Pb-Pb collisions the $p_{\mathrm{T}}$ dependent $\phi(1020)/\pi$ and K$^{*}(892)^{0}$/$\pi$ ratios show an enhancement over pp collisions for $p_{\mathrm{T}}$ $\sim$3 GeV/$c$, consistent with previous observations of strong radial flow. At high $p_{\mathrm{T}}$, particle ratios in Pb-Pb collisions are similar to those measured in pp collisions. In central Pb-Pb collisions, the production of K$^{*}(892)^{0}$ and $\phi(1020)$ mesons is suppressed for $p_{\mathrm{T}}> 8$ GeV/$c$. This suppression is similar to that of charged pions, kaons and protons, indicating that the suppression does not depend on particle mass or flavor in the light quark sector.
The prompt production of the charm baryon $\rm \Lambda_{c}^{+}$ and the $\rm \Lambda_{c}^{+}/\mathrm {D^0}$ production ratios were measured at midrapidity with the ALICE detector in pp and p-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}} = 5.02$TeV. These new measurements show a clear decrease of the $\rm \Lambda_{c}^{+}/\mathrm {D^0}$ ratio with increasing transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) in both collision systems in the range $2<p_{\rm T}<12$ GeV/$c$, exhibiting similarities with the light-flavour baryon-to-meson ratios ${\rm p}/\pi$ and $\Lambda/\mathrm {K^0_S}$. At low $p_{\rm T}$, predictions that include additional colour-reconnection mechanisms beyond the leading-colour approximation; assume the existence of additional higher-mass charm-baryon states; or include hadronisation via coalescence can describe the data, while predictions driven by charm-quark fragmentation processes measured in $\mathrm {e^+e^-}$ and $\mathrm {e^-p}$ collisions significantly underestimate the data. The results presented in this letter provide significant evidence that the established assumption of universality (colliding-system independence) of parton-to-hadron fragmentation is not sufficient to describe charm-baryon production in hadronic collisions at LHC energies.
We have studied the transverse-momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) dependence of the inclusive J/$\psi$ production in p-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 5.02$ TeV, in three center-of-mass rapidity ($y_{\rm cms}$) regions, down to zero $p_{\rm T}$. Results in the forward and backward rapidity ranges ($2.03 < y_{\rm cms} < 3.53$ and $-4.46 <y_{\rm cms}< -2.96$) are obtained by studying the J/$\psi$ decay to $\mu^+\mu^-$, while the mid-rapidity region ($-1.37 < y_{\rm cms} < 0.43$) is investigated by measuring the ${\rm e}^+{\rm e}^-$ decay channel. The $p_{\rm T}$ dependence of the J/$\psi$ production cross section and nuclear modification factor are presented for each of the rapidity intervals, as well as the J/$\psi$ mean $p_{\rm T}$ values. Forward and mid-rapidity results show a suppression of the J/$\psi$ yield, with respect to pp collisions, which decreases with increasing $p_{\rm T}$. At backward rapidity no significant J/$\psi$ suppression is observed. Theoretical models including a combination of cold nuclear matter effects such as shadowing and partonic energy loss, are in fair agreement with the data, except at forward rapidity and low transverse momentum. The implications of the p-Pb results for the evaluation of cold nuclear matter effects on J/$\psi$ production in Pb-Pb collisions are also discussed.
This article presents measurements of the groomed jet radius and momentum splitting fraction in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}=5.02$ TeV with the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Inclusive charged-particle jets are reconstructed at midrapidity using the anti-$k_{\rm{T}}$ algorithm for transverse momentum $60< p_{\mathrm{T}}^{\rm{ch\; jet}}<80$ GeV/$c$. We report results using two different grooming algorithms: soft drop and, for the first time, dynamical grooming. For each grooming algorithm, a variety of grooming settings are used in order to explore the impact of collinear radiation on these jet substructure observables. These results are compared to perturbative calculations that include resummation of large logarithms at all orders in the strong coupling constant. We find good agreement of the theoretical predictions with the data for all grooming settings considered.
Recent measurements of charm-baryon production in hadronic collisions have questioned the universality of charm-quark fragmentation across different collision systems. In this work the fragmentation of charm quarks into charm baryons is probed, by presenting the first measurement of the longitudinal jet momentum fraction carried by $\Lambda_{\rm c}^{+}$ baryons, $z^{\mathrm{ch}}_\mathrm{||}$, in hadronic collisions. The results are obtained in proton-proton (pp) collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV at the LHC, with $\Lambda_{\rm c}^{+}$ baryons and charged (track-based) jets reconstructed in the transverse momentum intervals of $3 \leq p_{\rm T}^{\Lambda_{\rm c}^{+}} < 15$ GeV/$c$ and $7 \leq p_{\rm T}^{\rm jet\;ch} < 15$ GeV/$c$, respectively. The $z^{\mathrm{ch}}_\mathrm{||}$ distribution is compared to a measurement of ${\rm D}^0$-tagged charged jets in pp collisions as well as to PYTHIA 8 simulations. The data hints that the fragmentation of charm quarks into charm baryons is softer with respect to charm mesons, in the measured kinematic interval, as predicted by hadronisation models which include colour correlations beyond leading-colour in the string formation.
A measurement of beauty hadron production at mid-rapidity in proton-lead collisions at a nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=5.02$ TeV is presented. The semi-inclusive decay channel of beauty hadrons into J/$\psi$ is considered, where the J/$\psi$ mesons are reconstructed in the dielectron decay channel at mid-rapidity down to transverse momenta of 1.3 GeV/$c$. The ${\rm {b\overline{b}}}$ production cross section at mid-rapidity, ${\rm d}\sigma_{\rm {b\overline{b}}}/{\rm d} y$, and the total cross section extrapolated over full phase space, $\sigma_{\rm {b\overline{b}}}$, are obtained. This measurement is combined with results on inclusive J/$\psi$ production to determine the prompt J/$\psi$ cross sections. The results in p-Pb collisions are then scaled to expectations from pp collisions at the same centre-of-mass energy to derive the nuclear modification factor $R_{\rm pPb}$, and compared to models to study possible nuclear modifications of the production induced by cold nuclear matter effects. $R_{\rm pPb}$ is found to be smaller than unity at low $p_{\rm T}$ for both J/$\psi$ coming from beauty hadron decays and prompt J/$\psi$.
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