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PG 1553 + 113 is one of the few blazars with a convincing quasi-periodic emission in the gamma-ray band. The source is also a very high energy (VHE; >100 GeV) gamma-ray emitter. To better understand its properties and identify the underlying physical processes driving its variability, the MAGIC Collaboration initiated a multiyear, multiwavelength monitoring campaign in 2015 involving the OVRO 40-m and Medicina radio telescopes, REM, KVA, and the MAGIC telescopes, Swift and Fermi satellites, and the WEBT network. The analysis presented in this paper uses data until 2017 and focuses on the characterization of the variability. The gamma-ray data show a (hint of a) periodic signal compatible with literature, but the X-ray and VHE gamma-ray data do not show statistical evidence for a periodic signal. In other bands, the data are compatible with the gamma-ray period, but with a relatively high p-value. The complex connection between the low- and high-energy emission and the non-monochromatic modulation and changes in flux suggests that a simple one-zone model is unable to explain all the variability. Instead, a model including a periodic component along with multiple emission zones is required.

 

Abstract We report on a long-lasting, elevated gamma-ray flux state from VER J0521+211 observed by VERITAS, MAGIC, and Fermi-LAT in 2013 and 2014. The peak integral flux above 200 GeV measured with the nightly binned light curve is (8.8 ± 0.4) × 10 −7 photons m −2 s −1 , or ∼37% of the Crab Nebula flux. Multiwavelength observations from X-ray, UV, and optical instruments are also presented. A moderate correlation between the X-ray and TeV gamma-ray fluxes was observed, and the X-ray spectrum appeared harder when the flux was higher. Using the gamma-ray spectrum and four models of the extragalactic background light (EBL), a conservative 95% confidence upper limit on the redshift of the source was found to be z ≤ 0.31. Unlike the gamma-ray and X-ray bands, the optical flux did not increase significantly during the studied period compared to the archival low-state flux. The spectral variability from optical to X-ray bands suggests that the synchrotron peak of the spectral energy distribution (SED) may become broader during flaring states, which can be adequately described with a one-zone synchrotron self-Compton model varying the high-energy end of the underlying particle spectrum. The synchrotron peak frequency of the SED and the radio morphology of the jet from the MOJAVE program are consistent with the source being an intermediate-frequency-peaked BL Lac object. 

Measurements of the production of electrons from heavy-flavour hadron decays in pp collisions at$$ \sqrt{s} $$$\sqrt{s}$= 13 TeV at midrapidity with the ALICE detector are presented down to a transverse momentum (p_T) of 0.2 GeV/cand up top_T= 35 GeV/c, which is the largest momentum range probed for inclusive electron measurements in ALICE. In p-Pb collisions, the production cross section and the nuclear modification factor of electrons from heavy-flavour hadron decays are measured in thep_Trange 0.5< p_T<26 GeV/cat$$ \sqrt{s_{\textrm{NN}}} $$$\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}$= 8.16 TeV. The nuclear modification factor is found to be consistent with unity within the statistical and systematic uncertainties. In both collision systems, first measurements of the yields of electrons from heavy-flavour hadron decays in different multiplicity intervals normalised to the multiplicity-integrated yield (self-normalised yield) at midrapidity are reported as a function of the self-normalised charged-particle multiplicity estimated at midrapidity. The self-normalised yields in pp and p-Pb collisions grow faster than linear with the self-normalised multiplicity. A strongp_Tdependence is observed in pp collisions, where the yield of high-p_Telectrons increases faster as a function of multiplicity than the one of low-p_Telectrons. The measurement in p-Pb collisions shows nop_Tdependence within uncertainties. The self-normalised yields in pp and p-Pb collisions are compared with measurements of other heavy-flavour, light-flavour, and strange particles, and with Monte Carlo simulations.

 

The azimuthal ($$\Delta \varphi $$$\Delta \phi$) correlation distributions between heavy-flavor decay electrons and associated charged particles are measured in pp and p–Pb collisions at$$\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{{NN}}}} = 5.02$$$\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}=5.02$TeV. Results are reported for electrons with transverse momentum$$4$4<p_{\text{T}}<16$$$\textrm{GeV}/c$$$\text{GeV}/c$ and pseudorapidity$$|\eta |<0.6$$$\left|\eta \right|<0.6$. The associated charged particles are selected with transverse momentum$$1$1<p_{\text{T}}<7$$$\textrm{GeV}/c$$$\text{GeV}/c$, and relative pseudorapidity separation with the leading electron$$|\Delta \eta | < 1$$$\left|\Delta \eta \right|<1$. The correlation measurements are performed to study and characterize the fragmentation and hadronization of heavy quarks. The correlation structures are fitted with a constant and two von Mises functions to obtain the baseline and the near- and away-side peaks, respectively. The results from p–Pb collisions are compared with those from pp collisions to study the effects of cold nuclear matter. In the measured trigger electron and associated particle kinematic regions, the two collision systems give consistent results. The$$\Delta \varphi $$$\Delta \phi$distribution and the peak observables in pp and p–Pb collisions are compared with calculations from various Monte Carlo event 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.

 

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.