Experimental results are presented on event-by-event net-proton fluctuation measurements in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 2.76 TeV, recorded by the ALICE detector at the CERN LHC. These measurements have as their ultimate goal an experimental test of Lattice QCD (LQCD) predictions on second and higher order cumulants of net-baryon distributions to search for critical behavior near the QCD phase boundary. Before confronting them with LQCD predictions, account has to be taken of correlations stemming from baryon number conservation as well as fluctuations of participating nucleons. Both effects influence the experimental measurements and are usually not considered in theoretical calculations. For the first time, it is shown that event-by-event baryon number conservation leads to subtle long-range correlations arising from very early interactions in the collisions.

The $p_{\rm T}$-differential cross sections of prompt charm-strange baryons $\Xi^0_{\rm c}$ and $\Xi^+_{\rm c}$ were measured at midrapidity ($|y| < 0.5$) in proton$-$proton (pp) collisions at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The $\Xi^0_{\rm c}$ baryon was reconstructed via both the semileptonic decay ($\Xi^{-}{\rm e^{+}}\nu_{\rm e}$) and the hadronic decay ($\Xi^{-}{\rm \pi^{+}}$) channels. The $\Xi^+_{\rm c}$ baryon was reconstructed via the hadronic decay ($\Xi^{-}\pi^{+}\pi^{+}$) channel. The branching-fraction ratio $\rm {\rm BR}(\Xi_c^0\rightarrow \Xi^-e^+\nu_e)/\rm {\rm BR}(\Xi_c^0\rightarrow \Xi^{-}\pi^+)=$ 1.38 $\pm$ 0.14 (stat) $\pm$ 0.22 (syst) was measured with a total uncertainty reduced by a factor of about 3 with respect to the current world average reported by the Particle Data Group. The transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) dependence of the $\Xi^0_{\rm c}$- and $\Xi^+_{\rm c}$-baryon production relative to the ${\rm D^0}$-meson and to the $\Sigma^{0,+,++}_{\rm c}$- and $\Lambda^+_{\rm c}$-baryon production are reported. The baryon-to-meson ratio increases towards low $p_{\rm T}$ up to a value of approximately 0.3. The measurements are compared with various models that take different hadronisation mechanisms into consideration. The results provide stringent constraints to these theoretical calculations and additional evidence that different processes are involved in charm hadronisation in electron$-$positron ($\rm e^+e^-$) and hadronic collisions.

Two-particle correlation functions were measured for $\rm p\overline{p}$, $\rm p\overline{\Lambda}$, $\rm \overline{p}\Lambda$, and $\Lambda\overline{\Lambda}$ pairs in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=2.76$ TeV and $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=5.02$ TeV recorded by the ALICE detector. From a simultaneous fit to all obtained correlation functions, real and imaginary components of the scattering lengths, as well as the effective ranges, were extracted for combined $\rm p\overline{\Lambda}$ and $\rm \overline{p}\Lambda$ pairs and, for the first time, for $\Lambda\overline{\Lambda}$ pairs. Effective averaged scattering parameters for heavier baryon-antibaryon pairs, not measured directly, are also provided. The results reveal similarly strong interaction between measured baryon-antibaryon pairs, suggesting that they all annihilate in the same manner at the same pair relative momentum $k^{*}$. Moreover, the reported significant non-zero imaginary part and negative real part of the scattering length provide motivation for future baryon-antibaryon bound state searches.

Transverse-momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) differential yields of electrons from semileptonic heavy-flavour hadron decays have been measured in the most central (0-10%) and in semi-central (20-40%) Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76$ TeV. The corresponding production cross section in pp collisions has been measured at the same energy with substantially reduced systematic uncertainties with respect to previously published results. The modification of the yield in Pb-Pb collisions with respect to the expectation from an incoherent superposition of nucleon-nucleon collisions is quantified at mid-rapidity ($|y|$ $<$ 0.8) in the $p_{\rm T}$ interval 0.5-3 GeV/$c$ via the nuclear modification factor, $R_{\rm AA}$. This paper extends the $p_{\rm T}$ reach of the $R_{\rm AA}$ measurement towards significantly lower values with respect to a previous publication. In Pb-Pb collisions the $p_{\rm T}$-differential measurements of yields at low $p_{\rm T}$ are essential to investigate the scaling of heavy-flavour production with the number of binary nucleon-nucleon collisions. Heavy-quark hadronization, a collective expansion and even initial-state effects, such as the nuclear modification of the Parton Distribution Functions, are also expected to have a significant effect on the measured distribution.

Two-particle correlations with ${\rm K}^{0}_{\rm{S}}$, $\Lambda$/$\bar{\Lambda}$, and charged hadrons as trigger particles in the transverse momentum range $8 < p_\mathrm{T,trig}<16$ GeV/$c$, and associated charged particles within $1 < p_\mathrm{T,assoc}<8$ GeV/$c$, are studied at mid-rapidity in pp and central Pb-Pb collisions at a centre-of-mass energy per nucleon-nucleon collision $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}} = 5.02$ TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC. After subtracting the contributions of the flow background, the per-trigger yields are extracted on both the near and away sides, and the ratio in Pb-Pb collisions with respect to pp collisions ($I_{\mathrm {AA}}$) is computed. The per-trigger yield in Pb-Pb collisions on the away side is strongly suppressed to the level of $I_{\mathrm {AA}} \approx 0.6$ for $p_\mathrm{T,assoc}>3$ GeV/$c$ as expected from strong in-medium energy loss, while an enhancement develops at low $p_\mathrm{T,assoc}$ on both the near and away sides, reaching $I_{\mathrm {AA}} \approx 1.8$ and $2.7$ respectively. These findings are in good agreement with previous ALICE measurements from two-particle correlations triggered by neutral pions ($\pi^{0}$-h) and charged hadrons (h-h) in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}} = 2.76$ TeV. Moreover, the correlations with ${\rm K}^{0}_{\rm{S}}$ mesons and $\Lambda$/$\bar{\Lambda}$ baryons as trigger particles are compared to those of inclusive charged hadrons. The results are compared with the predictions of Monte Carlo models.

Electrons from heavy-flavour hadron decays (charm and beauty) were measured with the ALICE detector in Pb-Pb collisions at a centre-of-mass of energy $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=2.76$ TeV. The transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) differential production yields at mid-rapidity were used to calculate the nuclear modification factor $R_{\rm AA}$ in the interval $3<p_{\rm T}< 18$ GeV/$c$. The $R_{\rm AA}$ shows a strong suppression compared to binary scaling of pp collisions at the same energy (up to a factor of 4) in the 10% most central Pb-Pb collisions. There is a centrality trend of suppression, and a weaker suppression (down to a factor of 2) in semi-peripheral (50-80%) collisions is observed. The suppression of electrons in this broad $p_{\rm T}$ interval indicates that both charm and beauty quarks lose energy when they traverse the hot medium formed in Pb-Pb collisions at LHC.

An improved value for the lifetime of the (anti-)hypertriton has been obtained using the data sample of Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}} = $ 5.02 TeV collected by the ALICE experiment at the LHC. The (anti-)hypertriton has been reconstructed via its charged two-body mesonic decay channel and the lifetime has been determined from an exponential fit to the d$N$/d($ct$) spectrum. The measured value, $\tau$ = 242$^{+34}_{-38}$ (stat.) $\pm$ 17 (syst.) ps, is compatible with all the available theoretical predictions, thus contributing to the solution of the longstanding hypertriton lifetime puzzle.

This letter reports measurements which characterize the underlying event associated with hard scatterings at mid-pseudorapidity ($|\eta|<0.8$) in pp, p$-$Pb and Pb$-$Pb collisions at centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair, $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=5.02$ TeV. The measurements are performed with ALICE at the LHC. Different multiplicity classes are defined based on the event activity measured at forward rapidities. The hard scatterings are identified by the leading particle defined as the charged particle with the largest transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) in the collision and having $8 < p_{\rm T} < 15$ GeV/$c$. The $p_{\rm T}$ spectra of associated particles ($0.5 \leq p_{\rm T}<6$ GeV/$c$) are measured in different azimuthal regions defined with respect to the leading particle direction: toward, transverse, and away. The associated charged particle yields in the transverse region are subtracted from those of the away and toward regions. The remaining jet-like yields are reported as a function of the multiplicity measured in the transverse region. The measurements show a suppression of the jet-like yield in the away region and an enhancement of high-$p_{\rm T}$ associated particles in the toward region in central Pb$-$Pb collisions, as compared to minimum-bias pp collisions. These observations are consistent with previous measurements that used two-particle correlations, and with an interpretation in terms of parton energy loss in a high-density quark gluon plasma. These yield modifications vanish in peripheral Pb$-$Pb collisions and are not observed in either high-multiplicity pp or p$-$Pb collisions.

The production of strange hadrons (K$^{0}_{\rm S}$, $\Lambda$, $\Xi^{\pm}$, and $\Omega^{\pm}$), baryon-to-meson ratios ($\Lambda/{\rm K}^0_{\rm S}$, $\Xi/{\rm K}^0_{\rm S }$, and $\Omega/{\rm K}^0_{\rm S}$), and baryon-to-baryon ratios ($\Xi/\Lambda$, $\Omega/\Lambda$, and $\Omega/\Xi$) associated with jets and the underlying event were measured as a function of transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV and p-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 5.02$ TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The inclusive production of the same particle species and the corresponding ratios are also reported. The production of multi-strange hadrons, $\Xi^{\pm}$ and $\Omega^{\pm}$, and their associated particle ratios in jets and in the underlying event are measured for the first time. In both pp and p-Pb collisions, the baryon-to-meson and baryon-to-baryon yield ratios measured in jets differ from the inclusive particle production for low and intermediate hadron $p_{\rm T}$ (0.6$-$6 GeV/$c$). Ratios measured in the underlying event are in turn similar to those measured for inclusive particle production. In pp collisions, the particle production in jets is compared with PYTHIA 8 predictions with three colour-reconnection implementation modes. None of them fully reproduces the data in the measured hadron $p_{\rm T}$ region. The maximum deviation is observed for $\Xi^{\pm}$ and $\Omega^{\pm}$, which reaches a factor of about six. In p-Pb collisions, there is no significant event-multiplicity dependence for particle production in jets, in contrast to what is observed in the underlying event. The presented measurements provide novel constraints on hadronisation and its Monte Carlo description. In particular, they demonstrate that the fragmentation of jets alone is insufficient to describe the strange and multi-strange particle production in hadronic collisions at LHC energies.

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.