Search for: All records

Abstract This paper is a write-up of the ideas that were presented, developed and discussed at the third International Workshop on QCD Challenges from pp to A–A, which took place in August 2019 in Lund, Sweden (Workshop link: https://indico.lucas.lu.se/event/1214/ ). The goal of the workshop was to focus on some of the open questions in the field and try to come up with concrete suggestions for how to make progress on both the experimental and theoretical sides. The paper gives a brief introduction to each topic and then summarizes the primary results. 

The production of strange hadrons ($$ {\textrm{K}}_{\textrm{S}}^0 $$$K_S^0$, Λ, Ξ^±, and Ω^±), baryon-to-meson ratios (Λ/$$ {\textrm{K}}_{\textrm{S}}^0 $$$K_S^0$, Ξ/$$ {\textrm{K}}_{\textrm{S}}^0 $$$K_S^0$, and Ω/$$ {\textrm{K}}_{\textrm{S}}^0 $$$K_S^0$), and baryon-to-baryon ratios (Ξ/Λ, Ω/Λ, and Ω/Ξ) associated with jets and the underlying event were measured as a function of transverse momentum (p_T) in pp collisions at$$ \sqrt{s} $$$\sqrt{s}$= 13 TeV and p Pb collisions at$$ \sqrt{s_{\textrm{NN}}} $$$\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{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, Ξ^±and Ω^±, 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 hadronp_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 Pythia8 predictions with three colour-reconnection implementation modes. None of them fully reproduces the data in the measured hadronp_Tregion. The maximum deviation is observed for Ξ^±and Ω^±which reaches a factor of about six. The event multiplicity dependence is further investigated in p−Pb collisions. In contrast to what is observed in the underlying event, there is no significant event-multiplicity dependence for particle production in jets. 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.

 

Abstract A newly developed observable for correlations between symmetry planes, which characterize the direction of the anisotropic emission of produced particles, is measured in Pb–Pb collisions at $$\sqrt{s_\text {NN}}$$ s NN  = 2.76 TeV with ALICE. This so-called Gaussian Estimator allows for the first time the study of these quantities without the influence of correlations between different flow amplitudes. The centrality dependence of various correlations between two, three and four symmetry planes is presented. The ordering of magnitude between these symmetry plane correlations is discussed and the results of the Gaussian Estimator are compared with measurements of previously used estimators. The results utilizing the new estimator lead to significantly smaller correlations than reported by studies using the Scalar Product method. Furthermore, the obtained symmetry plane correlations are compared to state-of-the-art hydrodynamic model calculations for the evolution of heavy-ion collisions. While the model predictions provide a qualitative description of the data, quantitative agreement is not always observed, particularly for correlators with significant non-linear response of the medium to initial state anisotropies of the collision system. As these results provide unique and independent information, their usage in future Bayesian analysis can further constrain our knowledge on the properties of the QCD matter produced in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions. 

A study of multiplicity and pseudorapidity distributions of inclusive photons measured in pp and p–Pb collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon–nucleon collision of$$\sqrt{s_{\textrm{NN}}}~=~5.02$$$\sqrt{s_{\text{NN}}}=5.02$ TeV using the ALICE detector in the forward pseudorapidity region 2.3 $$<~\eta _\textrm{lab} ~<$$$<{\eta }_{\text{lab}}<$ 3.9 is presented. Measurements in p–Pb collisions are reported for two beam configurations in which the directions of the proton and lead ion beam were reversed. The pseudorapidity distributions in p–Pb collisions are obtained for seven centrality classes which are defined based on different event activity estimators, i.e., the charged-particle multiplicity measured at midrapidity as well as the energy deposited in a calorimeter at beam rapidity. The inclusive photon multiplicity distributions for both pp and p–Pb collisions are described by double negative binomial distributions. The pseudorapidity distributions of inclusive photons are compared to those of charged particles at midrapidity in pp collisions and for different centrality classes in p–Pb collisions. The results are compared to predictions from various Monte Carlo event generators. None of the generators considered in this paper reproduces the inclusive photon multiplicity distributions in the reported multiplicity range. The pseudorapidity distributions are, however, better described by the same generators.

 

This article reports measurements of the angle between differently defined jet axes in pp collisions at$$ \sqrt{s} $$$\sqrt{s}$= 5.02 TeV carried out by the ALICE Collaboration. Charged particles at midrapidity are clustered into jets with resolution parametersR= 0.2 and 0.4. The jet axis, before and after Soft Drop grooming, is compared to the jet axis from the Winner-Takes-All (WTA) recombination scheme. The angle between these axes, ∆R_axis, probes a wide phase space of the jet formation and evolution, ranging from the initial high-momentum-transfer scattering to the hadronization process. The ∆R_axisobservable is presented for 20<$$ {p}_{\textrm{T}}^{\textrm{ch}\ \textrm{jet}} $$$p_T^{\mathrm{ch}\mathrm{jet}}$<100 GeV/c, and compared to predictions from the PYTHIA 8 and Herwig 7 event generators. The distributions can also be calculated analytically with a leading hadronization correction related to the non-perturbative component of the Collins-Soper-Sterman (CSS) evolution kernel. Comparisons to analytical predictions at next-to-leading-logarithmic accuracy with leading hadronization correction implemented from experimental extractions of the CSS kernel in Drell-Yan measurements are presented. The analytical predictions describe the measured data within 20% in the perturbative regime, with surprising agreement in the non-perturbative regime as well. These results are compatible with the universality of the CSS kernel in the context of jet substructure.

 

The production of inclusive, prompt and non-prompt J/ψwas studied for the first time at midrapidity (−1.37< y_cms<0.43) in p-Pb collisions at$$ \sqrt{s_{\textrm{NN}}} $$$\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}$= 8.16 TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The inclusive J/ψmesons were reconstructed in the dielectron decay channel in the transverse momentum (p_T) interval 0< p_T<14 GeV/cand the prompt and non-prompt contributions were separated on a statistical basis forp_T>2 GeV/c. The study of the J/ψmesons in the dielectron channel used for the first time in ALICE online single-electron triggers from the Transition Radiation Detector, providing a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 689 ± 13μb⁻¹. The proton-proton reference cross section for inclusive J/ψwas obtained based on interpolations of measured data at different centre-of-mass energies and a universal function describing thep_T-differential J/ψproduction cross sections. Thep_T-differential nuclear modification factorsR_pPbof inclusive, prompt, and non-prompt J/ψare consistent with unity and described by theoretical models implementing only nuclear shadowing.