Measurements of cross sections of inelastic and diffractive processes in proton--proton collisions at LHC energies were carried out with the ALICE detector. The fractions of diffractive processes in inelastic collisions were determined from a study of gaps in charged particle pseudorapidity distributions: for single diffraction (diffractive mass $M_X < 200$ GeV/$c^2$) $\sigma_{\rm SD}/\sigma_{\rm INEL} = 0.21 \pm 0.03, 0.20^{+0.07}_{-0.08}$, and $0.20^{+0.04}_{-0.07}$, respectively at centre-of-mass energies $\sqrt{s} = 0.9, 2.76$, and 7~TeV; for double diffraction (for a pseudorapidity gap $\Delta\eta > 3$) $\sigma_{\rm DD}/\sigma_{\rm INEL} = 0.11 \pm 0.03, 0.12 \pm 0.05$, and $0.12^{+0.05}_{-0.04}$, respectively at $\sqrt{s} = 0.9, 2.76$, and 7~TeV. To measure the inelastic cross section, beam properties were determined with van der Meer scans, and, using a simulation of diffraction adjusted to data, the following values were obtained: $\sigma_{\rm INEL} = 62.8^{+2.4}_{-4.0} (model) \pm 1.2 (lumi)$ mb at $\sqrt{s} =$ 2.76~TeV and $73.2^{+2.0}_{-4.6} (model) \pm 2.6 (lumi)$ mb at $\sqrt{s}$ = 7~TeV. The single- and double-diffractive cross sections were calculated combining relative rates of diffraction with inelastic cross sections. The results are compared to previous measurements at proton--antiproton and proton--proton colliders at lower energies, to measurements by other experiments at the LHC, and to theoretical models.

We present particle spectra for charged hadrons $\pi^\pm, K^\pm, p$ and $\bar{p}$ from pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}=200$ GeV measured for the first time at forward rapidities (2.95 and 3.3). The kinematics of these measurements are skewed in a way that probes the small momentum fraction in one of the protons and large fractions in the other. Large proton to pion ratios are observed at values of transverse momentum that extend up to 4 GeV/c, where protons have momenta up to 35 GeV. Next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculations describe the production of pions and kaons well at these rapidities, but fail to account for the large proton yields and small $\bar{p}/p$ ratios.

The ratio of the yields of antiprotons to protons in pp collisions has been measured by the ALICE experiment at $\sqrt{s} = 0.9$ and $7$ TeV during the initial running periods of the Large Hadron Collider(LHC). The measurement covers the transverse momentum interval $0.45 < p_{\rm{t}} < 1.05$ GeV/$c$ and rapidity $|y| < 0.5$. The ratio is measured to be $R_{|y| < 0.5} = 0.957 \pm 0.006 (stat.) \pm 0.014 (syst.)$ at $0.9$ TeV and $R_{|y| < 0.5} = 0.991 \pm 0.005 (stat.) \pm 0.014 (syst.)$ at $7$ TeV and it is independent of both rapidity and transverse momentum. The results are consistent with the conventional model of baryon-number transport and set stringent limits on any additional contributions to baryon-number transfer over very large rapidity intervals in pp collisions.

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.

The measurement of primary $\pi^{\pm}$, K$^{\pm}$, p and $\overline{p}$ production at mid-rapidity ($|y| <$ 0.5) in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 7$ TeV performed with ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is reported. Particle identification is performed using the specific ionization energy loss and time-of-flight information, the ring-imaging Cherenkov technique and the kink-topology identification of weak decays of charged kaons. Transverse momentum spectra are measured from 0.1 up to 3 GeV/$c$ for pions, from 0.2 up to 6 GeV/$c$ for kaons and from 0.3 up to 6 GeV/$c$ for protons. The measured spectra and particle ratios are compared with QCD-inspired models, tuned to reproduce also the earlier measurements performed at the LHC. Furthermore, the integrated particle yields and ratios as well as the average transverse momenta are compared with results at lower collision energies.

Pseudorapidity gap distributions in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV are studied using a minimum bias data sample with an integrated luminosity of 7.1 inverse microbarns. Cross sections are measured differentially in terms of Delta eta F, the larger of the pseudorapidity regions extending to the limits of the ATLAS sensitivity, at eta = +/- 4.9, in which no final state particles are produced above a transverse momentum threshold p_T Cut. The measurements span the region 0 < Delta eta F < 8 for 200 < p_T Cut < 800 MeV. At small Delta eta F, the data test the reliability of hadronisation models in describing rapidity and transverse momentum fluctuations in final state particle production. The measurements at larger gap sizes are dominated by contributions from the single diffractive dissociation process (pp -> Xp), enhanced by double dissociation (pp -> XY) where the invariant mass of the lighter of the two dissociation systems satisfies M_Y <~ 7 GeV. The resulting cross section is d sigma / d Delta eta F ~ 1 mb for Delta eta F >~ 3. The large rapidity gap data are used to constrain the value of the pomeron intercept appropriate to triple Regge models of soft diffraction. The cross section integrated over all gap sizes is compared with other LHC inelastic cross section measurements.

The production of K$^{*}$(892)$^{0}$ and $\phi$(1020) mesons has been measured in p-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}$ = 5.02 TeV. K$^{*0}$ and $\phi$ are reconstructed via their decay into charged hadrons with the ALICE detector in the rapidity range $-0.5 < y <0$. The transverse momentum spectra, measured as a function of the multiplicity, have p$_{\mathrm{T}}$ range from 0 to 15 GeV/$c$ for K$^{*0}$ and from 0.3 to 21 GeV/$c$ for $\phi$. Integrated yields, mean transverse momenta and particle ratios are reported and compared with results in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 7 TeV and Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}$ = 2.76 TeV. In Pb-Pb and p-Pb collisions, K$^{*0}$ and $\phi$ probe the hadronic phase of the system and contribute to the study of particle formation mechanisms by comparison with other identified hadrons. For this purpose, the mean transverse momenta and the differential proton-to-$\phi$ ratio are discussed as a function of the multiplicity of the event. The short-lived K$^{*0}$ is measured to investigate re-scattering effects, believed to be related to the size of the system and to the lifetime of the hadronic phase.

Spectra of identified charged hadrons are measured in pp collisions at the LHC for sqrt(s) = 0.9, 2.76, and 7 TeV. Charged pions, kaons, and protons in the transverse-momentum range pt approximately 0.1-1.7 GeV and for rapidities abs(y) < 1 are identified via their energy loss in the CMS silicon tracker. The average pt increases rapidly with the mass of the hadron and the event charged-particle multiplicity, independently of the center-of-mass energy. The fully corrected pt spectra and integrated yields are compared to various tunes of the PYTHIA6 and PYTHIA8 event generators.

Transverse momentum spectra of $\pi^{\pm}$, $\rm K^{\pm}$ and p($\bar{\rm p}$) up to $p_{\rm T}$ = 20 GeV/$c$ at mid-rapidity in pp and Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=$ 2.76 TeV have been measured using the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The proton-to-pion and the kaon-to-pion ratios both show a distinct peak at $p_{\rm T} \approx 3 GeV/c$ in central Pb-Pb collisions. Below the peak, $p_{\rm T}$ < 3 GeV/$c$, both ratios are in good agreement with hydrodynamical calculations, suggesting that the peak itself is dominantly the result of radial flow rather than anomalous hadronization processes. For $p_{\rm T}$ > 10 GeV/$c$ particle ratios in pp and Pb-Pb collisions are in agreement and the nuclear modification factors for $\pi^{\pm}$, $\rm K^{\pm}$ and $\rm p$($\bar{\rm p}$) indicate that, within the systematic and statistical uncertainties, the suppression is the same. This suggests that the chemical composition of leading particles from jets in the medium is similar to that of vacuum jets.

Measurements of $\rm{K}^{*}(892)^{0}$ and $\phi(1020)$ resonance production in Pb-Pb and pp collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm{NN}}}$ = 5.02 TeV with the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider are reported. The resonances are measured at midrapidity ($|y|$ $<$ 0.5) via their hadronic decay channels and the transverse momentum ($p_{\rm{T}}$) distributions are obtained for various collision centrality classes up to $p_{\rm{T}}$ $=$ 20 GeV$/c$. The $p_{\rm{T}}$-integrated yield ratio $\rm{K}^{*}(892)^{0}$$/$K in Pb-Pb collisions shows significant suppression relative to pp collisions and decreases towards more central collisions. In contrast, the $\phi(1020)$$/$K ratio does not show any suppression. Furthermore, the measured $\rm{K}^{*}(892)^{0}$$/$K ratio in central Pb-Pb collisions is significantly suppressed with respect to the expectations based on a thermal model calculation, while the $\phi(1020)$$/$K ratio agrees with the model prediction. These measurements are an experimental demonstration of rescattering of $\rm{K}^{*}(892)^{0}$ decay products in the hadronic phase of the collisions. The $\rm{K}^{*}(892)^{0}$$/$K yield ratios in Pb-Pb and pp collisions are used to estimate the time duration between chemical and kinetic freeze-out, which is found to be $\sim$ 4-7 fm$/c$ for central collisions. The $p_{\rm{T}}$-differential ratios of $\rm{K}^{*}(892)^{0}$$/$K, $\phi(1020)$$/$K, $\rm{K}^{*}(892)^{0}$$/\pi$, $\phi(1020)$$/\pi$, $p/$$\rm{K}^{*}(892)^{0}$ and $p/$$\phi(1020)$ are also presented for Pb-Pb and pp collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm{NN}}}$ $=$ 5.02 TeV. These ratios show that the rescattering effect is predominantly a low-$p_{\rm{T}}$ phenomenon.