The polarization of inclusive J/$\psi$ and $\Upsilon(1{\rm S})$ produced in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm{NN}}}=5.02$ TeV at the LHC is measured with the ALICE detector. The study is carried out by reconstructing the quarkonium through its decay to muon pairs in the rapidity region $2.5<y<4$ and measuring the polar and azimuthal angular distributions of the muons. The polarization parameters $\lambda_{\theta}$, $\lambda_{\phi}$ and $\lambda_{\theta\phi}$ are measured in the helicity and Collins-Soper reference frames, in the transverse momentum interval $2<p_{\rm T}<10$ GeV/$c$ and $p_{\rm T}<15$ GeV/$c$ for the J/$\psi$ and $\Upsilon(1{\rm S})$, respectively. The polarization parameters for the J/$\psi$ are found to be compatible with zero, within a maximum of about two standard deviations at low $p_{\rm T}$, for both reference frames and over the whole $p_{\rm T}$ range. The values are compared with the corresponding results obtained for pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}=7$ and 8 TeV in a similar kinematic region by the ALICE and LHCb experiments. Although with much larger uncertainties, the polarization parameters for $\Upsilon(1{\rm S})$ production in Pb-Pb collisions are also consistent with zero.
We present a new measurement of J/psi production in Pb-Pb collisions at 158 GeV/nucleon, from the data sample collected in year 2000 by the NA50 Collaboration, under improved experimental conditions with respect to previous years. With the target system placed in vacuum, the setup was better adapted to study, in particular, the most peripheral nuclear collisions with unprecedented accuracy. The analysis of this data sample shows that the (J/psi)/Drell-Yan cross-sections ratio measured in the most peripheral Pb-Pb interactions is in good agreement with the nuclear absorption pattern extrapolated from the studies of proton-nucleus collisions. Furthermore, this new measurement confirms our previous observation that the (J/psi)/Drell-Yan cross-sections ratio departs from the normal nuclear absorption pattern for semi-central Pb-Pb collisions and that this ratio persistently decreases up to the most central collisions.
The polarization of inclusive J/$\psi$ produced in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=5.02$ TeV at the LHC was studied by ALICE in the dimuon channel, via the measurement of the angular distribution of its decay products. The study was performed in the rapidity region $2.5<y<4$, for three transverse momentum intervals ($2<p_{\rm T}<4$, $4<p_{\rm T}<6$, $6<p_{\rm T}<10$ GeV/$c$) and as a function of the centrality of the collision for $2<p_{\rm T}<6$ GeV/c. For the first time, the polarization was measured with respect to the event plane of the collision, by considering the angle between the positive-charge decay muon in the J/$\psi$ rest frame and the axis perpendicular to the event-plane vector in the laboratory system. A small transverse polarization is measured, with a significance reaching 3.9$\sigma$ at low $p_{\rm T}$ and for intermediate centrality values. The polarization could be connected with the existence of a strong magnetic field in the early stage of quark-gluon plasma formation in Pb-Pb collisions, as well as with its behaviour as a rotating fluid with large vorticity.
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