The study of (anti-)deuteron production in pp collisions has proven to be a powerful tool to investigate the formation mechanism of loosely bound states in high energy hadronic collisions. In this paper the production of (anti-)deuterons is studied as a function of the charged particle multiplicity in inelastic pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV using the ALICE experiment. Thanks to the large number of accumulated minimum bias events, it has been possible to measure (anti-)deuteron production in pp collisions up to the same charged particle multiplicity ($\rm{d} N_{ch}/\rm{d}\eta\sim26$) as measured in p-Pb collisions at similar centre-of-mass energies. Within the uncertainties, the deuteron yield in pp collisions resembles the one in p-Pb interactions, suggesting a common formation mechanism behind the production of light nuclei in hadronic interactions. In this context the measurements are compared with the expectations of coalescence and Statistical Hadronisation Models (SHM).

The production of the $\psi(2S)$ charmonium state was measured with ALICE in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=5.02$ TeV, in the dimuon decay channel. A significant signal was observed for the first time at LHC energies down to zero transverse momentum, at forward rapidity ($2.5<y<4$). The measurement of the ratio of the inclusive production cross sections of the $\psi(2S)$ and J/$\psi$ resonances is reported as a function of the centrality of the collisions and of transverse momentum, in the region $p_{\rm T}<12$ GeV/$c$. The results are compared with the corresponding measurements in pp collisions, by forming the double ratio $[\sigma^{\psi(2S)}/\sigma^{J/\psi}]_{\rm{Pb-Pb}}/[\sigma^{\psi(2S)}/\sigma^{J/\psi}]_{\rm{pp}}$. It is found that in Pb-Pb collisions the $\psi(2S)$ is suppressed by a factor of $\sim 2$ with respect to the J/$\psi$. The $\psi(2S)$ nuclear modification factor $R_{\rm AA}$ was also obtained as a function of both centrality and $p_{\rm T}$. The results show that the $\psi(2S)$ resonance yield is strongly suppressed in Pb-Pb collisions, by a factor up to $\sim 3$ with respect to pp. Comparisons of cross section ratios with previous SPS findings by the NA50 experiment and of $R_{\rm AA}$ with higher-$p_{\rm T}$ results at LHC energy are also reported. These results and the corresponding comparisons with calculations of transport and statistical models address questions on the presence and properties of charmonium states in the quark-gluon plasma formed in nuclear collisions at the LHC.

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 have studied J/psi production in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV at the LHC through its muon pair decay. The polar and azimuthal angle distributions of the decay muons were measured, and results on the J/$\psi$ polarization parameters $\lambda_{\theta}$ and $\lambda_\phi$ were obtained. The study was performed in the kinematic region 2.5<y<4, 2<$p_{\rm T}$<8 GeV/$c$, in the helicity and Collins-Soper reference frames. In both frames, the polarization parameters are compatible with zero, within uncertainties.

The production of the $\Lambda$(1520) baryonic resonance has been measured at midrapidity in inelastic pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 7 TeV and in p-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm{NN}}}$ = 5.02 TeV for non-single diffractive events and in multiplicity classes. The resonance is reconstructed through its hadronic decay channel $\Lambda$(1520) $\rightarrow$ pK$^{-}$ and the charge conjugate with the ALICE detector. The integrated yields and mean transverse momenta are calculated from the measured transverse momentum distributions in pp and p-Pb collisions. The mean transverse momenta follow mass ordering as previously observed for other hyperons in the same collision systems. A Blast-Wave function constrained by other light hadrons ($\pi$, K, K$_{\rm{S}}^0$, p, $\Lambda$) describes the shape of the $\Lambda$(1520) transverse momentum distribution up to 3.5 GeV/$c$ in p-Pb collisions. In the framework of this model, this observation suggests that the $\Lambda(1520)$ resonance participates in the same collective radial flow as other light hadrons. The ratio of the yield of $\Lambda(1520)$ to the yield of the ground state particle $\Lambda$ remains constant as a function of charged-particle multiplicity, suggesting that there is no net effect of the hadronic phase in p-Pb collisions on the $\Lambda$(1520) yield.

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.

At sufficiently high temperature and energy density, nuclear matter undergoes a transition to a phase in which quarks and gluons are not confined: the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) [1]. Such an extreme state of strongly-interacting QCD (Quantum Chromo-Dynamics) matter is produced in the laboratory with high-energy collisions of heavy nuclei, where an enhanced production of strange hadrons is observed [2-6]. Strangeness enhancement, originally proposed as a signature of QGP formation in nuclear collisions [7], is more pronounced for multi-strange baryons. Several effects typical of heavy-ion phenomenology have been observed in high-multiplicity proton-proton (pp) collisions [8,9]. Yet, enhanced production of multi-strange particles has not been reported so far. Here we present the first observation of strangeness enhancement in high-multiplicity pp collisions. We find that the integrated yields of strange and multi-strange particles relative to pions increases significantly with the event charged-particle multiplicity. The measurements are in remarkable agreement with p-Pb collision results [10,11] indicating that the phenomenon is related to the final system created in the collision. In high-multiplicity events strangeness production reaches values similar to those observed in Pb-Pb collisions, where a QGP is formed.

The ALICE experiment has measured low-mass dimuon production in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 7$ TeV in the dimuon rapidity region 2.5<y<4. The observed dimuon mass spectrum is described as a superposition of resonance decays ($\eta$, $\rho$, $\omega$, $\eta^{'}$, $\phi$) into muons and semi-leptonic decays of charmed mesons. The measured production cross sections for $\omega$ and $\phi$ are $\sigma_\omega$ (1<$p_{\rm T}$<5 GeV/$c$,2.5<y<4) = 5.28 $\pm$ 0.54 (stat) $\pm$ 0.50 (syst) mb and $\sigma_\phi$(1<$p_{\rm T}$<5 GeV/$c$,2.5<y<4)=0.940 $\pm$ 0.084 (stat) $\pm$ 0.078 (syst) mb. The differential cross sections $d^2\sigma/dy dp_{\rm T}$ are extracted as a function of $p_{\rm T}$ for $\omega$ and $\phi$. The ratio between the $\rho$ and $\omega$ cross section is obtained. Results for the $\phi$ are compared with other measurements at the same energy and with predictions by models.

The first study of $\phi$-meson production in p-Pb collisions at forward and backward rapidity, at a nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 5.02$~TeV, has been performed with the ALICE apparatus at the LHC. The $\phi$-mesons have been identified in the dimuon decay channel in the transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) range $1 < p_{\rm T} < 7$ GeV/$c$, both in the p-going ($2.03 < y < 3.53$) and the Pb-going ($-4.46 < y < -2.96$) directions, where $y$ stands for the rapidity in the nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass, the integrated luminosity amounting to $5.01 \pm 0.19$~nb$^{-1}$ and $5.81 \pm 0.20$~nb$^{-1}$, respectively, for the two data samples. Differential cross sections as a function of transverse momentum and rapidity are presented. The forward-backward ratio for $\phi$-meson production is measured for $2.96<|y|<3.53$, resulting in a ratio $\sim 0.5$ with no significant $p_{\rm T}$ dependence within the uncertainties. The $p_{\rm T}$ dependence of the $\phi$ nuclear modification factor $R_{\rm pPb}$ exhibits an enhancement up to a factor 1.6 at $p_{\rm T}$ = 3-4 GeV/$c$ in the Pb-going direction. The $p_{\rm T}$ dependence of the $\phi$-meson cross section in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 2.76 TeV, which is used to determine a reference for the p-Pb results, is also presented here for $1 < p_{\rm T} < 5$ GeV/$c$ and $2.5 <y < 4$ for a $78 \pm 3$~nb$^{-1}$ integrated luminosity sample.

A measurement of the transverse momentum spectra of jets in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=2.76$ TeV is reported. Jets are reconstructed from charged particles using the anti-$k_{\rm T}$ jet algorithm with jet resolution parameters $R$ of $0.2$ and $0.3$ in pseudo-rapidity $|\eta|<0.5$. The transverse momentum $p_{\rm T}$ of charged particles is measured down to $0.15$ GeV/$c$ which gives access to the low $p_{\rm T}$ fragments of the jet. Jets found in heavy-ion collisions are corrected event-by-event for average background density and on an inclusive basis (via unfolding) for residual background fluctuations and detector effects. A strong suppression of jet production in central events with respect to peripheral events is observed. The suppression is found to be similar to the suppression of charged hadrons, which suggests that substantial energy is radiated at angles larger than the jet resolution parameter $R=0.3$ considered in the analysis. The fragmentation bias introduced by selecting jets with a high $p_{\rm T}$ leading particle, which rejects jets with a soft fragmentation pattern, has a similar effect on the jet yield for central and peripheral events. The ratio of jet spectra with $R=0.2$ and $R=0.3$ is found to be similar in Pb-Pb and simulated PYTHIA pp events, indicating no strong broadening of the radial jet structure in the reconstructed jets with $R<0.3$.