The WA94 experiment uses the production of strange particles and antiparticles to investigate the properties of hot hadronic matter created in heavy-ion interactions. Λ, Λ , Ξ − and Ξ + particle yields and transverse mass spectra are presented for pS interactions. These results are compared with those from SS interactions. Our results are also compared with those from pW and SW interactions of the WA85 experiment.
Charged particle production in central S-S collisions at 200 GeV/ c per nucleon has been studied by the WA94 experiment at the CERN-SPS. Particle identification has been provided by the Omega RICH, while a silicon telescope in the Omega spectrometer and an array of MultiWire Proportional Chambers have been used to trace particles through the RICH detector. Production ratios and transverse mass spectra for π ± , K ± and p( p ) at central rapidity and p T > 1.3 GeV/ c are presented.
Enhanced production of strange baryons and anti-baryons at central rapidity in S-W and S-z.sbnd;S with respect to p-A reactions has been reported by the CERN experiments WA85 and WA94. The WA97 experiment is extending such a study to Pb Pb collisions making use of the newly developed silicon pixel detectors. Results on Λ, Ξ − and Ω − production in Pb Pb collisions at 158 A GeV/ c at central rapidity are presented. Transverse mass spectra and particle ratios are presented. Hyperon yields are given as a function of the collision centrality and compared with those obtained from p-Pb collisions using the same experimental setup.
Preliminary results from WA97 measurements on Λ, Ξ and Ω production in lead-lead and proton-lead collisions are presented, along with a comparison of WA97 proton-lead data with previous WA85 proton-tungsten results. The ratio Ω gX seems to be enhanced in lead initiated reactions compared to proton initiated reactions.
Production of ϱ 0 , K ∗0 , K ∗0 , and φ have been measured in proton-proton collisions at the CERN Intersecting Storage Rings (ISR) at low p T in the central region. The transverse mass spectra are well described by exp (− aμ T ), with a = −6.4±0.2 GeV −1 . The cross sections for d σ/ d y| y=0 are 6.5±0.8±1.2 mb for ϱ 0 , 1.9±0.3±0.3 mb for K ∗) , 1.9±03±03 mb for K ∗0 , and 60.±0.12±0.13 mb for φ , where the first error is statistical and the second is sytematic.
Λ , Ξ and Ω yields and transverse mass spectra have been measured in Pb-Pb and p-Pb collisions at 158 A GeV/ c . The yields in Pb-Pb interactions are presented as a function of the collision centrality and compared with those obtained from p-Pb collisions. Strangeness enhancement is observed which increases with centrality and with the strangeness content of the hyperon.
Results on K s 0 production at central rapidity in sulphur-tungsten interactions are presented. The selection procedure used to identify K s 0 particles through their decay to two charged pions is described. The m T spectra for K s 0 , Λ and Λ and the relative production rates K s 0 Λ and K s 0 Λ , calculated in the kinematic region p T > 1 GeV/ c and 2.5 ≤ y LAB ≤ 3.0, are discussed.
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.
We have studied the inclusive production of the hadrons π ± , K ± , p, p , Λ, Λ , ρ and ⋉ in the central region at the ISR s = 53 GeV , in both pp and p p collisions. Differences are observed only for K ± , p, and p production. We then study also correlations between low- p T pp and p p pairs in the two types of collisions, separating the contribution from baryon pair production and from the incident particles (stopping protons). We observe a positive correlation between two stopping protons; between the production of two pairs, and between a stopping proton and a pair production, there are negative correlations.
The size of the particle emission region in high-energy collisions can be deduced using the femtoscopic correlations of particle pairs at low relative momentum. Such correlations arise due to quantum statistics and Coulomb and strong final state interactions. In this paper, results are presented from femtoscopic analyses of $\pi^{\pm}\pi^{\pm}$, ${\rm K}^{\pm}{\rm K}^{\pm}$, ${\rm K}^{0}_S{\rm K}^{0}_S$, ${\rm pp}$, and ${\rm \overline{p}}{\rm \overline{p}}$ correlations from Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm {NN}}}=2.76$ TeV by the ALICE experiment at the LHC. One-dimensional radii of the system are extracted from correlation functions in terms of the invariant momentum difference of the pair. The comparison of the measured radii with the predictions from a hydrokinetic model is discussed. The pion and kaon source radii display a monotonic decrease with increasing average pair transverse mass $m_{\rm T}$ which is consistent with hydrodynamic model predictions for central collisions. The kaon and proton source sizes can be reasonably described by approximate $m_{\rm T}$-scaling.