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Abstract A Large Ion Collider Experiment (ALICE) has been conceived and constructed as a heavy-ion experiment at the LHC. During LHC Runs 1 and 2, it has produced a wide range of physics results using all collision systems available at the LHC. In order to best exploit new physics opportunities opening up with the upgraded LHC and new detector technologies, the experiment has undergone a major upgrade during the LHC Long Shutdown 2 (2019–2022). This comprises the move to continuous readout, the complete overhaul of core detectors, as well as a new online event processing farm with a redesigned online-offline software framework. These improvements will allow to record Pb-Pb collisions at rates up to 50 kHz, while ensuring sensitivity for signals without a triggerable signature. 

The first measurement of the cross section for incoherent photonuclear production of $J/\psi$vector mesons as a function of the Mandelstam $\left|t\right|$variable is presented. The measurement was carried out with the ALICE detector at midrapidity, $\left|y\right|<0.8$, using ultraperipheral collisions of Pb nuclei at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}=5.02\mathrm{TeV}$. This rapidity interval corresponds to a Bjorken- $x$range $\left(0.3–1.4\right)\times {10}^{-3}$. Cross sections are given in five $\left|t\right|$intervals in the range $0.04<\left|t\right|<1{\mathrm{GeV}}^2$and compared to the predictions by different models. Models that ignore quantum fluctuations of the gluon density in the colliding hadron predict a $\left|t\right|$dependence of the cross section much steeper than in data. The inclusion of such fluctuations in the same models provides a better description of the data. © 2024 CERN, for the ALICE Collaboration2024CERN 

A<sc>bstract</sc> Correlations in azimuthal angle extending over a long range in pseudorapidity between particles, usually called the “ridge” phenomenon, were discovered in heavy-ion collisions, and later found in pp and p–Pb collisions. In large systems, they are thought to arise from the expansion (collective flow) of the produced particles. Extending these measurements over a wider range in pseudorapidity and final-state particle multiplicity is important to understand better the origin of these long-range correlations in small collision systems. In this Letter, measurements of the long-range correlations in p–Pb collisions at$$ \sqrt{s_{\textrm{NN}}} $$ $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}$= 5.02 TeV are extended to a pseudorapidity gap of ∆η~ 8 between particles using the ALICE forward multiplicity detectors. After suppressing non-flow correlations, e.g., from jet and resonance decays, the ridge structure is observed to persist up to a very large gap of ∆η~ 8 for the first time in p–Pb collisions. This shows that the collective flow-like correlations extend over an extensive pseudorapidity range also in small collision systems such as p–Pb collisions. The pseudorapidity dependence of the second-order anisotropic flow coefficient,v₂(η), is extracted from the long-range correlations. Thev₂(η) results are presented for a wide pseudorapidity range of –3.1< η <4.8 in various centrality classes in p–Pb collisions. To gain a comprehensive understanding of the source of anisotropic flow in small collision systems, thev₂(η) measurements are compared with hydrodynamic and transport model calculations. The comparison suggests that the final-state interactions play a dominant role in developing the anisotropic flow in small collision systems. 

A<sc>bstract</sc> Measurements of the production cross sections of prompt D⁰, D⁺, D^*+,$$ {\textrm{D}}_{\textrm{s}}^{+} $$ $D_s^{+}$,$$ {\Lambda}_{\textrm{c}}^{+} $$ ${\Lambda }_c^{+}$, and$$ {\Xi}_{\textrm{c}}^{+} $$ ${\Xi }_c^{+}$charm hadrons at midrapidity in proton-proton collisions at$$ \sqrt{s} $$ $\sqrt{s}$= 13 TeV with the ALICE detector are presented. The D-meson cross sections as a function of transverse momentum (p_T) are provided with improved precision and granularity. The ratios ofp_T-differential meson production cross sections based on this publication and on measurements at different rapidity and collision energy provide a constraint on gluon parton distribution functions at low values of Bjorken-x(10⁻⁵–10⁻⁴). The measurements of$$ {\Lambda}_{\textrm{c}}^{+} $$ ${\Lambda }_c^{+}$($$ {\Xi}_{\textrm{c}}^{+} $$ ${\Xi }_c^{+}$) baryon production extend the measuredp_Tintervals down top_T= 0(3) GeV/c. These measurements are used to determine the charm-quark fragmentation fractions and the$$ \textrm{c}\overline{\textrm{c}} $$ $c\overline{c}$production cross section at midrapidity (|y|<0.5) based on the sum of the cross sections of the weakly-decaying ground-state charm hadrons D⁰, D⁺,$$ {\textrm{D}}_{\textrm{s}}^{+} $$ $D_s^{+}$,$$ {\Lambda}_{\textrm{c}}^{+} $$ ${\Lambda }_c^{+}$,$$ {\Xi}_{\textrm{c}}^0 $$ ${\Xi }_c^0$and, for the first time,$$ {\Xi}_{\textrm{c}}^{+} $$ ${\Xi }_c^{+}$, and of the strongly-decaying J/ψmesons. The first measurements of$$ {\Xi}_{\textrm{c}}^{+} $$ ${\Xi }_c^{+}$and$$ {\Sigma}_{\textrm{c}}^{0,++} $$ ${\Sigma }_c^{0,++}$fragmentation fractions at midrapidity are also reported. A significantly larger fraction of charm quarks hadronising to baryons is found compared to e⁺e⁻and ep collisions. The$$ \textrm{c}\overline{\textrm{c}} $$ $c\overline{c}$production cross section at midrapidity is found to be at the upper bound of state-of-the-art perturbative QCD calculations. 

Abstract The interactions of kaons (K) and antikaons ($$\mathrm {\overline{K}}$$ $\overline{K}$) with few nucleons (N) were studied so far using kaonic atom data and measurements of kaon production and interaction yields in nuclei. Some details of the three-body KNN and$$\mathrm {\overline{K}}$$ $\overline{K}$NN dynamics are still not well understood, mainly due to the overlap with multi-nucleon interactions in nuclei. An alternative method to probe the dynamics of three-body systems with kaons is to study the final state interaction within triplet of particles emitted in pp collisions at the Large Hadron Collider, which are free from effects due to the presence of bound nucleons. This Letter reports the first femtoscopic study of p–p–K$$^+$$ ${}^{+}$and p–p–K$$^-$$ ${}^{-}$correlations measured in high-multiplicity pp collisions at$$\sqrt{s}$$ $\sqrt{s}$= 13 TeV by the ALICE Collaboration. The analysis shows that the measured p–p–K$$^+$$ ${}^{+}$and p–p–K$$^-$$ ${}^{-}$correlation functions can be interpreted in terms of pairwise interactions in the triplets, indicating that the dynamics of such systems is dominated by the two-body interactions without significant contributions from three-body effects or bound states. 

Abstract The elliptic flow$$(v_2)$$ $\left(v_2\right)$of$${\textrm{D}}^{0}$$ ${\text{D}}^0$mesons from beauty-hadron decays (non-prompt$${\textrm{D}}^{0})$$ ${\text{D}}^0)$was measured in midcentral (30–50%) Pb–Pb collisions at a centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair$$\sqrt{s_{\textrm{NN}}} = 5.02$$ $\sqrt{s_{\text{NN}}}=5.02$ TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The$${\textrm{D}}^{0}$$ ${\text{D}}^0$mesons were reconstructed at midrapidity$$(|y|<0.8)$$ $\left(\right|y|<0.8)$from their hadronic decay$$\mathrm {D^0 \rightarrow K^-\uppi ^+}$$ $D^0\to K^{-}{\pi }^{+}$, in the transverse momentum interval$$2< p_{\textrm{T}} < 12$$ $2<p_{\text{T}}<12$ GeV/c. The result indicates a positive$$v_2$$ $v_2$for non-prompt$${{\textrm{D}}^{0}}$$ ${\text{D}}^0$mesons with a significance of 2.7$$\sigma $$ $\sigma$. The non-prompt$${{\textrm{D}}^{0}}$$ ${\text{D}}^0$-meson$$v_2$$ $v_2$is lower than that of prompt non-strange D mesons with 3.2$$\sigma $$ $\sigma$significance in$$2< p_\textrm{T} < 8~\textrm{GeV}/c$$ $2<p_{\text{T}}<8\text{GeV}/c$, and compatible with the$$v_2$$ $v_2$of beauty-decay electrons. Theoretical calculations of beauty-quark transport in a hydrodynamically expanding medium describe the measurement within uncertainties. 

Abstract The knowledge of the material budget with a high precision is fundamental for measurements of direct photonproduction using the photon conversion method due to its direct impact on the total systematic uncertainty. Moreover, it influences many aspects of the charged-particle reconstruction performance. In this article, two procedures to determine data-driven corrections to the material-budget description in ALICE simulation software are developed.One is based on the precise knowledge of the gas composition in the Time Projection Chamber. The other is based on the robustness of the ratio between the produced number of photons and charged particles, to a large extent due to the approximate isospin symmetry in the number of produced neutral and charged pions. Both methods are applied to ALICE data allowing for a reduction of theoverall material budget systematic uncertainty from 4.5% down to2.5%. Using these methods, a locally correct material budget is alsoachieved. The two proposed methods are generic and can be applied toany experiment in a similar fashion.