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We measure the 3D kinematic structures of the young stars within the central 0.5 pc of our Galactic Center using the 10 m telescopes of the W. M. Keck Observatory over a time span of 25 yr. Using high-precision measurements of positions on the sky and proper motions and radial velocities from new observations and the literature, we constrain the orbital parameters for each young star. Our results show two statistically significant substructures: a clockwise stellar disk with 18 candidate stars, as has been proposed before, but with an improved disk membership; and a second, almost edge-on plane of 10 candidate stars oriented east–west on the sky that includes at least one IRS 13 star. We estimate the eccentricity distribution of each substructure and find that the clockwise disk has 〈e〉 = 0.39 and the edge-on plane has 〈e〉 = 0.68. We also perform simulations of each disk/plane with incompleteness and spatially variable extinction to search for asymmetry. Our results show that the clockwise stellar disk is consistent with a uniform azimuthal distribution within the disk. The edge-on plane has an asymmetry that cannot be explained by variable extinction or incompleteness in the field. The orientation, asymmetric stellar distribution, and high eccentricity of the edge-on plane members suggest that this structure may be a stream associated with the IRS 13 group. The complex dynamical structure of the young nuclear cluster indicates that the star formation process involved complex gas structures and dynamics and is inconsistent with a single massive gaseous disk.

 

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.