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We present a comparison of the Milky Way’s star formation rate (SFR) surface density (∑_SFR) obtained with two independent state-of-the-art observational methods. The first method infers Σ_SFRfrom observations of the dust thermal emission from interstellar dust grains in far-infrared wavelengths registered in theHerschelinfrared Galactic Plane Survey (Hi-GAL). The second method determines Σ_SFRby modeling the current population of O-, B-, and A-type stars in a 6 kpc × 6 kpc area around the Sun. We find an agreement between the two methods within a factor of two for the mean SFRs and the SFR surface density profiles. Given the broad differences between the observational techniques and the independent assumptions in the methods for computing the SFRs, this agreement constitutes a significant advance in our understanding of the star formation of our Galaxy and implies that the local SFR has been roughly constant over the past 10 Myr. 

We report observations, performed with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), of 1 mm dust continuum emission and molecular line emission in 13CO(2–1) and C18O(2–1), towards a sample of starless and protostellar clumps selected from a region, towards the ℓ = 224° field, of the Herschel Infrared GALactic Plane Survey (Hi-GAL). Using the ALMA images and a source extraction algorithm we have analysed the small-scale (∼1000 AU) structure of the clumps and their population of cores (or fragments). We find in general multiple cores in each Hi-GAL clump, both in the continuum and spectral lines, but we do not find a dominant fragmentation mode and the morphologies are very different among the various sources. Our results suggest that during the transition phase from clump to core, those sources with a higher core formation efficiency are also associated with parent clumps that are more likely to convert a higher fraction of their initial mass into a single or a few cores. We were able to obtain a core mass function, or CoMF, covering masses in the range ∼2 × 10−3 to ∼1 M⊙ for the C18O cores, and ∼4 × 10−2 to ∼10 M⊙ for the continuum cores. We find that the CoMF in our sample is much shallower than the higher mass ($\gtrsim 1$ M⊙) IMF, thus indicating that while approaching the final phase of fragmentation the mass function does not resemble the IMF more closely.

 

The formation mechanism of the most massive stars is far from completely understood. It is still unclear if the formation is core-fed or clump-fed, i.e. if the process is an extension of what happens in low-mass stars, or if the process is more dynamical such as a continuous, multiscale accretion from the gas at parsec (or even larger) scales. In this context, we introduce the SQUALO project, an ALMA 1.3 and 3 mm survey designed to investigate the properties of 13 massive clumps selected at various evolutionary stages, with the common feature that they all show evidence for accretion at the clump scale. In this work, we present the results obtained from the 1.3 mm continuum data. Our observations identify 55 objects with masses in the range 0.4 ≤ M ≤ 309 M⊙, with evidence that the youngest clumps already present some degree of fragmentation. The data show that physical properties such as mass and surface density of the fragments and their parent clumps are tightly correlated. The minimum distance between fragments decreases with evolution, suggesting a dynamical scenario in which massive clumps first fragment under the influence of non-thermal motions driven by the competition between turbulence and gravity. With time gravitational collapse takes over and the fragments organize themselves into more thermally supported objects while continuing to accrete from their parent clump. Finally, one source does not fragment, suggesting that the support of other mechanisms (such as magnetic fields) is crucial only in specific star-forming regions.

 

The production yields of the Σ(1385)^±and Ξ(1530)⁰resonances are measured in pp collisions at$$ \sqrt{s} $$$\sqrt{s}$= 13 TeV with ALICE. The measurements are performed as a function of the charged-particle multiplicity ⟨dN_ch/dη⟩, which is related to the energy density produced in the collision. The results include transverse momentum (p_T) distributions,p_T-integrated yields, mean transverse momenta of Σ(1385)^±and Ξ(1530)⁰, as well as ratios of thep_T-integrated resonance yields relative to yields of other hadron species. The Σ(1385)^±/π^±and Ξ(1530)⁰/π^±yield ratios are consistent with the trend of the enhancement of strangeness production from low to high multiplicity pp collisions, which was previously observed for strange and multi-strange baryons. The yield ratio between the measured resonances and the long-lived baryons with the same strangeness content exhibits a hint of a mild increasing trend at low multiplicity, despite too large uncertainties to exclude the flat behaviour. The results are compared with predictions from models such as EPOS-LHC and PYTHIA 8 with Rope shoving. The latter provides the best description of the multiplicity dependence of the Σ(1385)^±and Ξ(1530)⁰production in pp collisions at$$ \sqrt{s} $$$\sqrt{s}$= 13 TeV.

 

Measurements of inclusive charged-particle jet production in pp and p-Pb collisions at center-of-mass energy per nucleon-nucleon collision$$ \sqrt{s_{\textrm{NN}}} $$$\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}$= 5.02 TeV and the corresponding nuclear modification factor$$ {R}_{\textrm{pPb}}^{\textrm{ch}\ \textrm{jet}} $$$R_{\mathrm{pPb}}^{\mathrm{ch}\mathrm{jet}}$are presented, using data collected with the ALICE detector at the LHC. Jets are reconstructed in the central rapidity region |η_jet|<0.5 from charged particles using the anti-k_Talgorithm with resolution parametersR= 0.2, 0.3, and 0.4. Thep_T-differential inclusive production cross section of charged-particle jets, as well as the corresponding cross section ratios, are reported for pp and p-Pb collisions in the transverse momentum range 10<$$ {p}_{\textrm{T},\textrm{jet}}^{\textrm{ch}} $$$p_{T,\mathrm{jet}}^{\mathrm{ch}}$<140 GeV/cand 10<$$ {p}_{\textrm{T},\textrm{jet}}^{\textrm{ch}} $$$p_{T,\mathrm{jet}}^{\mathrm{ch}}$<160 GeV/c, respectively, together with the nuclear modification factor$$ {R}_{\textrm{pPb}}^{\textrm{ch}\ \textrm{jet}} $$$R_{\mathrm{pPb}}^{\mathrm{ch}\mathrm{jet}}$in the range 10<$$ {p}_{\textrm{T},\textrm{jet}}^{\textrm{ch}} $$$p_{T,\mathrm{jet}}^{\mathrm{ch}}$<140 GeV/c. The analysis extends thep_Trange of the previously-reported charged-particle jet measurements by the ALICE Collaboration. The nuclear modification factor is found to be consistent with one and independent of the jet resolution parameter with the improved precision of this study, indicating that the possible influence of cold nuclear matter effects on the production cross section of charged-particle jets in p-Pb collisions at$$ \sqrt{s_{\textrm{NN}}} $$$\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}$= 5.02 TeV is smaller than the current precision. The obtained results are in agreement with other minimum bias jet measurements available for RHIC and LHC energies, and are well reproduced by the NLO perturbative QCD Powhegcalculations with parton shower provided by Pythia8 as well as by Jetscapesimulations.

 

Results on the transverse spherocity dependence of light-flavor particle production (π, K, p,ϕ, K^*0,$$ {\textrm{K}}_{\textrm{S}}^0 $$$K_S^0$, Λ, Ξ) at midrapidity in high-multiplicity pp collisions at$$ \sqrt{s} $$$\sqrt{s}$= 13 TeV were obtained with the ALICE apparatus. The transverse spherocity estimator$$ \left({S}_{\textrm{O}}^{p_{\textrm{T}}=1}\right) $$$\left(S_O^{p_T=1}\right)$categorizes events by their azimuthal topology. Utilizing narrow selections on$$ {S}_{\textrm{O}}^{p_{\textrm{T}}=1} $$$S_O^{p_T=1}$, it is possible to contrast particle production in collisions dominated by many soft initial interactions with that observed in collisions dominated by one or more hard scatterings. Results are reported for two multiplicity estimators covering different pseudorapidity regions. The$$ {S}_{\textrm{O}}^{p_{\textrm{T}}=1} $$$S_O^{p_T=1}$estimator is found to effectively constrain the hardness of the events when the midrapidity (|η| < 0.8) estimator is used.

The production rates of strange particles are found to be slightly higher for soft isotropic topologies, and severely suppressed in hard jet-like topologies. These effects are more pronounced for hadrons with larger mass and strangeness content, and observed when the topological selection is done within a narrow multiplicity interval. This demonstrates that an important aspect of the universal scaling of strangeness enhancement with final-state multiplicity is that high-multiplicity collisions are dominated by soft, isotropic processes. On the contrary, strangeness production in events with jet-like processes is significantly reduced.

The results presented in this article are compared with several QCD-inspired Monte Carlo event generators. Models that incorporate a two-component phenomenology, either through mechanisms accounting for string density, or thermal production, are able to describe the observed strangeness enhancement as a function of$$ {S}_{\textrm{O}}^{p_{\textrm{T}}=1} $$$S_O^{p_T=1}$.

 

The ALICE Collaboration reports a search for jet quenching effects in high-multiplicity (HM) proton-proton collisions at$$ \sqrt{s} $$$\sqrt{s}$= 13 TeV, using the semi-inclusive azimuthal-difference distribution ∆φof charged-particle jets recoiling from a high transverse momentum (high-p_T,trig) trigger hadron. Jet quenching may broaden the ∆φdistribution measured in HM events compared to that in minimum bias (MB) events. The measurement employs ap_T,trig-differential observable for data-driven suppression of the contribution of multiple partonic interactions, which is the dominant background. While azimuthal broadening is indeed observed in HM compared to MB events, similar broadening for HM events is observed for simulations based on the PYTHIA 8 Monte Carlo generator, which does not incorporate jet quenching. Detailed analysis of these data and simulations show that the azimuthal broadening is due to bias of the HM selection towards events with multiple jets in the final state. The identification of this bias has implications for all jet quenching searches where selection is made on the event activity.

 

$K^{+}{K}^{-}$pairs may be produced in photonuclear collisions, either from the decays of photoproduced$\varphi (1020)$mesons or directly as nonresonant$K^{+}{K}^{-}$pairs. Measurements of$K^{+}{K}^{-}$photoproduction probe the couplings between the$\varphi (1020)$and charged kaons with photons and nuclear targets. The kaon-proton scattering occurs at energies far above those available elsewhere. We present the first measurement of coherent photoproduction of$K^{+}{K}^{-}$pairs on lead ions in ultraperipheral collisions using the ALICE detector, including the first investigation of direct$K^{+}{K}^{-}$production. There is significant$K^{+}{K}^{-}$production at low transverse momentum, consistent with coherent photoproduction on lead targets. In the mass range$1.1<M_{KK}<1.4\mathrm{GeV}/c^2$above the$\varphi (1020)$resonance, for rapidity$|y_{KK}|<0.8$and$p_{T,KK}<0.1\mathrm{GeV}/c$, the measured coherent photoproduction cross section is$\mathrm{d}\sigma /\mathrm{d}y=3.37\pm 0.61(\text{stat})\pm 0.15(\mathrm{syst})\mathrm{mb}$. The center-of-mass energy per nucleon of the photon-nucleus (Pb) system$W_{\gamma \mathrm{Pb},n}$ranges from 33 to 188 GeV, far higher than previous measurements on heavy-nucleus targets. The cross section is larger than expected for$\varphi (1020)$photoproduction alone. The mass spectrum is fit to a cocktail consisting of$\varphi (1020)$decays, direct$K^{+}{K}^{-}$photoproduction, and interference between the two. The confidence regions for the amplitude and relative phase angle for direct$K^{+}{K}^{-}$photoproduction are presented.

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