1. |
- Aad, G., et al.
(author)
-
- 2010
-
swepub:Mat__t
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2. |
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3. |
- Schael, S, et al.
(author)
-
Precision electroweak measurements on the Z resonance
- 2006
-
In: Physics Reports. - : Elsevier BV. - 0370-1573 .- 1873-6270. ; 427:5-6, s. 257-454
-
Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We report on the final electroweak measurements performed with data taken at the Z resonance by the experiments operating at the electron-positron colliders SLC and LEP. The data consist of 17 million Z decays accumulated by the ALEPH, DELPHI, L3 and OPAL experiments at LEP, and 600 thousand Z decays by the SLID experiment using a polarised beam at SLC. The measurements include cross-sections, forward-backward asymmetries and polarised asymmetries. The mass and width of the Z boson, m(Z) and Gamma(Z), and its couplings to fermions, for example the p parameter and the effective electroweak mixing angle for leptons, are precisely measured: m(Z) = 91.1875 +/- 0.0021 GeV, Gamma(Z) = 2.4952 +/- 0.0023 GeV, rho(l) = 1.0050 +/- 0.0010, sin(2)theta(eff)(lept) = 0.23153 +/- 0.00016. The number of light neutrino species is determined to be 2.9840 +/- 0.0082, in agreement with the three observed generations of fundamental fermions. The results are compared to the predictions of the Standard Model (SM). At the Z-pole, electroweak radiative corrections beyond the running of the QED and QCD coupling constants are observed with a significance of five standard deviations, and in agreement with the Standard Model. Of the many Z-pole measurements, the forward-backward asymmetry in b-quark production shows the largest difference with respect to its SM expectation, at the level of 2.8 standard deviations. Through radiative corrections evaluated in the framework of the Standard Model, the Z-pole data are also used to predict the mass of the top quark, m(t) = 173(+10)(+13) GeV, and the mass of the W boson, m(W) = 80.363 +/- 0.032 GeV. These indirect constraints are compared to the direct measurements, providing a stringent test of the SM. Using in addition the direct measurements of m(t) and m(W), the mass of the as yet unobserved SM Higgs boson is predicted with a relative uncertainty of about 50% and found to be less than 285 GeV at 95% confidence level. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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4. |
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5. |
- Abelev, B., et al.
(author)
-
Charge correlations using the balance function in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=2.76 TeV
- 2013
-
In: Physics Letters. Section B: Nuclear, Elementary Particle and High-Energy Physics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0370-2693. ; 723:4-5, s. 267-279
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In high-energy heavy-ion collisions, the correlations between the emitted particles can be used as a probe to gain insight into the charge creation mechanisms. In this Letter, we report the first results of such studies using the electric charge balance function in the relative pseudorapidity (Delta eta) and azimuthal angle (Delta phi) in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN) = 2.76 TeV with the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The width of the balance function decreases with growing centrality (i.e. for more central collisions) in both projections. This centrality dependence is not reproduced by HIJING, while AMPT, a model which incorporates strings and parton rescattering, exhibits qualitative agreement with the measured correlations in Delta phi but fails to describe the correlations in Delta eta. A thermal blast-wave model incorporating local charge conservation and tuned to describe the p(T) spectra and v(2) measurements reported by ALICE, is used to fit the centrality dependence of the width of the balance function and to extract the average separation of balancing charges at freeze-out. The comparison of our results with measurements at lower energies reveals an ordering with root s(NN): the balance functions become narrower with increasing energy for all centralities. This is consistent with the effect of larger radial flow at the LHC energies but also with the late stage creation scenario of balancing charges. However, the relative decrease of the balance function widths in Delta eta and Delta phi, with centrality from the highest SPS to the LHC energy exhibits only small differences. This observation cannot be interpreted solely within the framework where the majority of the charge is produced at a later stage in the evolution of the heavy-ion collision. (C) 2013 CERN. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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6. |
- Abelev, B., et al.
(author)
-
Technical Design Report for the Upgrade of the ALICE Inner Tracking System
- 2014
-
In: Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics. - : IOP Publishing. - 0954-3899 .- 1361-6471. ; 41:8
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- LICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is studying the physics of strongly interacting matter, and in particular the properties of the Quark–Gluon Plasma (QGP), using proton–proton, proton–nucleus and nucleus–nucleus collisions at the CERN LHC (Large Hadron Collider). The ALICE Collaboration is preparing a major upgrade of the experimental apparatus, planned for installation in the second long LHC shutdown in the years 2018–2019. A key element of the ALICE upgrade is the construction of a new, ultra-light, high-resolution Inner Tracking System (ITS) based on monolithic CMOS pixel detectors. The primary focus of the ITS upgrade is on improving the performance for detection of heavy-flavour hadrons, and of thermal photons and low-mass di-electrons emitted by the QGP. With respect to the current detector, the new Inner Tracking System will significantly enhance the determination of the distance of closest approach to the primary vertex, the tracking efficiency at low transverse momenta, and the read-out rate capabilities. This will be obtained by seven concentric detector layers based on a 50 μm thick CMOS pixel sensor with a pixel pitch of about 30×30 μm2. This document, submitted to the LHCC (LHC experiments Committee) in September 2013, presents the design goals, a summary of the R&D activities, with focus on the technical implementation of the main detector components, and the projected detector and physics performance.
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7. |
- Aamodt, K., et al.
(author)
-
The ALICE experiment at the CERN LHC
- 2008
-
In: Journal of Instrumentation. - 1748-0221. ; 3:S08002
-
Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is a general-purpose, heavy-ion detector at the CERN LHC which focuses on QCD, the strong-interaction sector of the Standard Model. It is designed to address the physics of strongly interacting matter and the quark-gluon plasma at extreme values of energy density and temperature in nucleus-nucleus collisions. Besides running with Pb ions, the physics programme includes collisions with lighter ions, lower energy running and dedicated proton-nucleus runs. ALICE will also take data with proton beams at the top LHC energy to collect reference data for the heavy-ion programme and to address several QCD topics for which ALICE is complementary to the other LHC detectors. The ALICE detector has been built by a collaboration including currently over 1000 physicists and engineers from 105 Institutes in 30 countries, Its overall dimensions are 16 x 16 x 26 m(3) with a total weight of approximately 10 000 t. The experiment consists of 18 different detector systems each with its own specific technology choice and design constraints, driven both by the physics requirements and the experimental conditions expected at LHC. The most stringent design constraint is to cope with the extreme particle multiplicity anticipated in central Pb-Pb collisions. The different subsystems were optimized to provide high-momentum resolution as well as excellent Particle Identification (PID) over a broad range in momentum, up to the highest multiplicities predicted for LHC. This will allow for comprehensive studies of hadrons, electrons, muons, and photons produced in the collision of heavy nuclei. Most detector systems are scheduled to be installed and ready for data taking by mid-2008 when the LHC is scheduled to start operation, with the exception of parts of the Photon Spectrometer (PHOS), Transition Radiation Detector (TRD) and Electro Magnetic Calorimeter (EMCal). These detectors will be completed for the high-luminosity ion run expected in 2010. This paper describes in detail the detector components as installed for the first data taking in the summer of 2008.
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8. |
- Abelev, B., et al.
(author)
-
Anisotropic flow of charged hadrons, pions and (anti-)protons measured at high transverse momentum in Pb-Pb collisions at root S-NN=2.76 TeV
- 2013
-
In: Physics Letters. Section B: Nuclear, Elementary Particle and High-Energy Physics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0370-2693. ; 719:1-3, s. 18-28
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The elliptic, v(2), triangular, v(3), and quadrangular, v(4), azimuthal anisotropic flow coefficients are measured for unidentified charged particles, pions, and (anti-)protons in Pb-Pb collisions at root S-NN = 2.76 TeV with the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Results obtained with the event plane and four-particle cumulant methods are reported for the pseudo-rapidity range vertical bar eta vertical bar < 0.8 at different collision centralities and as a function of transverse momentum, p(T), out to p(T) = 20 GeV/c. The observed non-zero elliptic and triangular flow depends only weakly on transverse momentum for p(T) > 8 GeV/c. The small p(T) dependence of the difference between elliptic flow results obtained from the event plane and four-particle cumulant methods suggests a common origin of flow fluctuations up to p(T) = 8 GeV/c. The magnitude of the (anti-)proton elliptic and triangular flow is larger than that of pions out to at least p(T) = 8 GeV/c indicating that the particle type dependence persists out to high p(T). (c) 2013 CERN. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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9. |
- Aamodt, K., et al.
(author)
-
Midrapidity Antiproton-to-Proton Ratio in pp Collisons root s=0.9 and 7 TeV Measured by the ALICE Experiment
- 2010
-
In: Physical Review Letters. - 1079-7114. ; 105:7
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The ratio of the yields of antiprotons to protons in pp collisions has been measured by the ALICE experiment at root s = 0.9 and 7 TeV during the initial running periods of the Large Hadron Collider. The measurement covers the transverse momentum interval 0.45 < p(t) < 1.05 GeV/c and rapidity vertical bar y vertical bar < 0.5. The ratio is measured to be R-vertical bar y vertical bar<0.5 = 0.957 +/- 0.006(stat) +/- 0.0014(syst) at 0.9 Tev and R-vertical bar y vertical bar<0.5 = 0.991 +/- 0.005 +/- 0.014(syst) at 7 TeV and it is independent of both rapidity and transverse momentum. The results are consistent with the conventional model of baryon-number transport and set stringent limits on any additional contributions to baryon-number transfer over very large rapidity intervals in pp collisions.
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10. |
- Aamodt, K., et al.
(author)
-
Production of pions, kaons and protons in pp collisions at root s=900 GeV with ALICE at the LHC
- 2011
-
In: European Physical Journal C. Particles and Fields. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1434-6044. ; 71:6
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The production of pi(+), pi(-), K+, K-, p, and (p) over bar at mid-rapidity has been measured in proton-proton collisions at root s = 900 GeV with the ALICE detector. Particle identification is performed using the specific energy loss in the inner tracking silicon detector and the time projection chamber. In addition, time-of-flight information is used to identify hadrons at higher momenta. Finally, the distinctive kink topology of the weak decay of charged kaons is used for an alternative measurement of the kaon transverse momentum (p(t)) spectra. Since these various particle identification tools give the best separation capabilities over different momentum ranges, the results are combined to extract spectra from p(t) = 100 MeV/c to 2.5 GeV/c. The measured spectra are further compared with QCD-inspired models which yield a poor description. The total yields and the mean pt are compared with previous measurements, and the trends as a function of collision energy are discussed.
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11. |
- Aamodt, K., et al.
(author)
-
Transverse momentum spectra of charged particles in proton-proton collisions at root s=900 GeV with ALICE at the LHC
- 2010
-
In: Physics Letters. Section B: Nuclear, Elementary Particle and High-Energy Physics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0370-2693. ; 693:2, s. 53-68
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The inclusive charged particle transverse momentum distribution is measured in proton-proton collisions at root s = 900 GeV at the LHC using the ALICE detector. The measurement is performed in the central pseudorapidity region (vertical bar eta vertical bar < 0.8) over the transverse momentum range 0.15 < p(T) < 10 GeV/c. The correlation between transverse momentum and particle multiplicity is also studied. Results are presented for inelastic (INEL) and non-single-diffractive (NSD) events. The average transverse momentum for vertical bar eta vertical bar < 0.8 is < p(T)>(INEL) = 0.483 +/- 0.001 (stat.) +/- 0.007 (syst.) GeV/c and < p(T)>(NSD) = 0.489 +/- 0.001 (stat.) +/- 0.007 (syst.) GeV/c, respectively. The data exhibit a slightly larger < p(T)> than measurements in wider pseudorapidity intervals. The results are compared to simulations with the Monte Carlo event generators PYTHIA and PHOJET. (C) 2010 Published by Elsevier B.V.
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12. |
- Aamodt, K., et al.
(author)
-
Two-pion Bose-Einstein correlations in pp collisions at root s=900 GeV
- 2010
-
In: Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology). - 1550-2368. ; 82:5
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We report on the measurement of two-pion correlation functions from pp collisions at root s = 900 GeV performed by the ALICE experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Our analysis shows an increase of the Hanbury Brown-Twiss radius with increasing event multiplicity, in line with other measurements done in particle- and nuclear collisions. Conversely, the strong decrease of the radius with increasing transverse momentum, as observed at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider and at Tevatron, is not manifest in our data.
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13. |
- Abelev, B., et al.
(author)
-
D-S(+) meson production at central rapidity in proton-proton collisions at root s=7 TeV
- 2012
-
In: Physics Letters. Section B: Nuclear, Elementary Particle and High-Energy Physics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0370-2693. ; 718:2, s. 279-294
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The P-T-differential inclusive production cross section of the prompt charm-strange meson D-s(+) in the rapidity range vertical bar y vertical bar < 0.5 was measured in proton-proton collisions at root s = 7 TeV at the LHC using the ALICE detector. The analysis was performed on a data sample of 2.98 x 10(8) events collected with a minimum-bias trigger. The corresponding integrated luminosity is L-int = 4.8 nb(-1). Reconstructing the decay D-s(+) -> phi pi(+) with phi -> K-K+, and its charge conjugate, about 480 D-s(+/-) mesons were counted, after selection cuts, in the transverse momentum range 2 < P-T < 12 GeV/c. The results are compared with predictions from models based on perturbative QCD. The ratios of the cross sections of four D meson species (namely D-0, D+, D*+ and D-s(+)) were determined both as a function of p(T) and integrated over p(T)after extrapolating to full p(T) range, together with the strangeness suppression factor in charm fragmentation. The obtained values are found to be compatible within uncertainties with those measured by other experiments in e(+)e(-), ep and pp interactions at various centre-of-mass energies. (C) 2012 CERN. Published by Elsevier By. All rights reserved.
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14. |
- Aamodt, K., et al.
(author)
-
Alignment of the ALICE Inner Tracking System with cosmic-ray tracks
- 2010
-
In: Journal of Instrumentation. - 1748-0221. ; 5
-
Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) experiment devoted to investigating the strongly interacting matter created in nucleus-nucleus collisions at the LHC energies. The ALICE ITS, Inner Tracking System, consists of six cylindrical layers of silicon detectors with three different technologies; in the outward direction: two layers of pixel detectors, two layers each of drift, and strip detectors. The number of parameters to be determined in the spatial alignment of the 2198 sensor modules of the ITS is about 13,000. The target alignment precision is well below 10 mu m in some cases (pixels). The sources of alignment information include survey measurements, and the reconstructed tracks from cosmic rays and from proton-proton collisions. The main track-based alignment method uses the Millepede global approach. An iterative local method was developed and used as well. We present the results obtained for the ITS alignment using about 10(5) charged tracks from cosmic rays that have been collected during summer 2008, with the ALICE solenoidal magnet switched off.
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15. |
- Aamodt, K., et al.
(author)
-
Charged-particle multiplicity measurement in proton-proton collisions at root s=0.9 and 2.36 TeV with ALICE at LHC
- 2010
-
In: European Physical Journal C. Particles and Fields. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1434-6044. ; 68:1-2, s. 89-108
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Charged-particle production was studied in proton-proton collisions collected at the LHC with the ALICE detector at centre-of-mass energies 0.9 TeV and 2.36 TeV in the pseudorapidity range vertical bar eta vertical bar < 1.4. In the central region (vertical bar eta vertical bar < 0.5), at 0.9 TeV, we measure charged-particle pseudo-rapidity density dN(ch)/d eta = 3.02 +/- 0.01(stat.)(-0.05)(+0.08)(syst.) for inelastic interactions, and dN(ch)/d eta = 3.58 +/- 0.01 (stat.)(-0.12)(+0.12)(syst.) for non-single-diffractive interactions. At 2.36 TeV, we find dN(ch)/d eta = 3.77 +/- 0.01(stat.)(-0.12)(+0.25)(syst.) for inelastic, and dN(ch)/d eta = 4.43 +/- 0.01(stat.)(-0.12)(+0.17)(syst.) for non-single-diffractive collisions. The relative increase in charged-particle multiplicity from the lower to higher energy is 24.7% +/- 0.5%(stat.)(-2.8)(+5.7)%(syst.) for inelastic and 23.7% +/- 0.5%(stat.)(-1.1)(+4.6)%(syst.) for non-single-diffractive interactions. This increase is consistent with that reported by the CMS collaboration for non-single-diffractive events and larger than that found by a number of commonly used models. The multiplicity distribution was measured in different pseudorapidity intervals and studied in terms of KNO variables at both energies. The results are compared to proton-antiproton data and to model predictions.
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16. |
- Aamodt, K., et al.
(author)
-
Charged-particle multiplicity measurement in proton-proton collisions at root s=7 TeV with ALICE at LHC
- 2010
-
In: European Physical Journal C. Particles and Fields. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1434-6044. ; 68:3-4, s. 345-354
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The pseudorapidity density and multiplicity distribution of charged particles produced in proton-proton collisions at the LHC, at a centre-of-mass energy root s = 7 TeV, were measured in the central pseudorapidity region vertical bar eta vertical bar < 1. Comparisons are made with previous measurements at root s = 0.9 TeV and 2.36 TeV. At root s = 7 TeV, for events with at least one charged particle in |eta vertical bar| < 1, we obtain dN(ch)/d eta = 6.01 +/- 0.01(stat.)(-0.12)(+0.20) (syst.). This corresponds to an increase of 57.6%+/-0.4%(stat.)(-1.8%)(+3.6) (syst.) relative to collisions at 0.9 TeV, significantly higher than calculations from commonly used models. The multiplicity distribution at 7 TeV is described fairly well by the negative binomial distribution.
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17. |
- Abbas, E., et al.
(author)
-
Centrality dependence of the pseudorapidity density distribution for charged particles in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=2.76 TeV
- 2013
-
In: Physics Letters. Section B: Nuclear, Elementary Particle and High-Energy Physics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0370-2693. ; 726:4-5, s. 610-622
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present the first wide-range measurement of the charged-particle pseudorapidity density distribution, for different centralities (the 0-5%, 5-10%, 10-20%, and 20-30% most central events) in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN) = 2.76 TeV at the LHC. The measurement is performed using the full coverage of the ALICE detectors, -5.0 < eta < 5.5, and employing a special analysis technique based on collisions arising from LHC 'satellite' bunches. We present the pseudorapidity density as a function of the number of participating nucleons as well as an extrapolation to the total number of produced charged particles (N-ch = 17165 +/- 772 for the 0-5% most central collisions). From the measured dN(ch)/d eta distribution we derive the rapidity density distribution, dN(ch)/dy, under simple assumptions. The rapidity density distribution is found to be significantly wider than the predictions of the Landau model. We assess the validity of longitudinal scaling by comparing to lower energy results from RHIC. Finally the mechanisms of the underlying particle production are discussed based on a comparison with various theoretical models. (C) 2013 CERN. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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18. |
- Abbas, E., et al.
(author)
-
Charmonium and e(+)e(-) pair photoproduction at mid-rapidity in ultra-peripheral Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=2.76 TeV
- 2013
-
In: European Physical Journal C. Particles and Fields. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1434-6044. ; 73:11
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The ALICE Collaboration at the LHC has measured the J/psi and psi' photoproduction at mid-rapidity in ultra-peripheral Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN) = 2.76 TeV. The charmonium is identified via its leptonic decay for events where the hadronic activity is required to be minimal. The analysis is based on an event sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 23 mu b(-1). The cross section for coherent and incoherent J/psi production in the rapidity interval -0.9 < y < 0.9, are d sigma(coh)(J/psi)/dy = 2.38(-0.24)(+0.34)(sta + sys) mb and d sigma(inc)(J/psi)/dy = 0.98(-0.17)(+0.19)(sta + sys) mb and , respectively. The results are compared to theoretical models for J/psi production and the coherent cross section is found to be in good agreement with those models incorporating moderate nuclear gluon shadowing at Bjorken-x around 10(-3), such as EPS09 parametrization. In addition the cross section for the process gamma gamma -> e(+)e(-) has been measured and found to be in agreement with models implementing QED at leading order.
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19. |
- Abbas, E., et al.
(author)
-
J/psi Elliptic Flow in Pb-Pb Collisions at root s(NN)=2.76 TeV
- 2013
-
In: Physical Review Letters. - 1079-7114. ; 111:16
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We report on the first measurement of inclusive J/psi elliptic flow v(2) in heavy-ion collisions at the LHC. The measurement is performed with the ALICE detector in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN) = 2.76 TeV in the rapidity range 2.5 < y < 4.0. The dependence of the J/psi v(2) on the collision centrality and on the J/psi transverse momentum is studied in the range 0 <= p(T) < 10 GeV/c. For semicentral Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN) = 2.76 TeV, an indication of nonzero v(2) is observed with a largest measured value of v(2) = 0.116 +/-0.046(stat) +/- 0.029(syst) for J/psi in the transverse momentum range 2 <= p(T) < 4 GeV/c. The elliptic flow measurement complements the previously reported ALICE results on the inclusive J/psi nuclear modification factor and favors the scenario of a significant fraction of J/psi production from charm quarks in a deconfined partonic phase.
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20. |
- Abbas, E., et al.
(author)
-
Mid-rapidity anti-baryon to baryon ratios in pp collisions at root s=0.9, 2.76 and 7 TeV measured by ALICE
- 2013
-
In: European Physical Journal C. Particles and Fields. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1434-6044. ; 73:7
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The ratios of yields of anti-baryons to baryons probes the mechanisms of baryon-number transport. Results for (p) over bar /p, (Lambda) over bar/Lambda, (Xi) over bar (+)/(Xi) over bar (-) and (Omega) over bar (+)/(Omega) over bar (-) in pp collisions at root s = 0.9, 2.76 and 7 TeV, measured with the ALICE detector at the LHC, are reported. Within the experimental uncertainties and ranges covered by our measurement, these ratios are independent of rapidity, transverse momentum and multiplicity for all measured energies. The results are compared to expectations from event generators, such as PYTHIA and HIJING/B, that are used to model the particle production in pp collisions. The energy dependence of (p) over bar /p, (Lambda) over bar/(Lambda) over bar, (Xi) over bar (+)/(Xi) over bar (-) and (Omega) over bar (+)/(Omega) over bar (-), reaching values compatible with unity for root s = 7 TeV, complement the earlier (p) over bar /p measurement of ALICE. These dependencies can be described by exchanges with the Regge-trajectory intercept of alpha(J) approximate to 0.5, which are suppressed with increasing rapidity interval Delta y. Any significant contribution of an exchange not suppressed at large Delta y (reached at LHC energies) is disfavoured.
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21. |
- Abbas, E., et al.
(author)
-
Performance of the ALICE VZERO system
- 2013
-
In: Journal of Instrumentation. - 1748-0221. ; 8
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- ALICE is an LHC experiment devoted to the study of strongly interacting matter in proton-proton, proton-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions at ultra-relativistic energies. The ALICE VZERO system, made of two scintillator arrays at asymmetric positions, one on each side of the interaction point, plays a central role in ALICE. In addition to its core function as a trigger source, the VZERO system is used to monitor LHC beam conditions, to reject beam-induced backgrounds and to measure basic physics quantities such as luminosity, particle multiplicity, centrality and event plane direction in nucleus-nucleus collisions. After describing the VZERO system, this publication presents its performance over more than four years of operation at the LHC.
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22. |
- Abelev, B., et al.
(author)
-
Upgrade of the ALICE Experiment Letter Of Intent
- 2014
-
In: Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics. - : IOP Publishing. - 0954-3899 .- 1361-6471. ; 41:8
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is studying the physics of strongly interacting matter, and in particular the properties of the Quark–Gluon Plasma (QGP), using proton–proton, proton–nucleus and nucleus–nucleus collisions at the CERN LHC (Large Hadron Collider). The ALICE Collaboration is preparing a major upgrade of the experimental apparatus, planned for installation in the second long LHC shutdown in the years 2018–2019. These plans are presented in the ALICE Upgrade Letter of Intent, submitted to the LHCC (LHC experiments Committee) in September 2012. In order to fully exploit the physics reach of the LHC in this field, high-precision measurements of the heavy-flavour production, quarkonia, direct real and virtual photons, and jets are necessary. This will be achieved by an increase of the LHC Pb–Pb instant luminosity up to 6×1027 cm−2s−1 and running the ALICE detector with the continuous readout at the 50 kHz event rate. The physics performance accessible with the upgraded detector, together with the main detector modifications, are presented.
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23. |
- Aamodt, K., et al.
(author)
-
First proton-proton collisions at the LHC as observed with the ALICE detector: measurement of the charged-particle pseudorapidity density at root s=900 GeV
- 2010
-
In: European Physical Journal C. Particles and Fields. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1434-6044. ; 65:1-2, s. 111-125
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- On 23rd November 2009, during the early commissioning of the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC), two counter-rotating proton bunches were circulated for the first time concurrently in the machine, at the LHC injection energy of 450 GeV per beam. Although the proton intensity was very low, with only one pilot bunch per beam, and no systematic attempt was made to optimize the collision optics, all LHC experiments reported a number of collision candidates. In the ALICE experiment, the collision region was centred very well in both the longitudinal and transverse directions and 284 events were recorded in coincidence with the two passing proton bunches. The events were immediately reconstructed and analyzed both online and offline. We have used these events to measure the pseudorapidity density of charged primary particles in the central region. In the range vertical bar eta vertical bar < 0.5, we obtain dN(ch)/d eta = 3.10 +/- 0.13(stat.) +/- 0.22(syst.) for all inelastic interactions, and dN(ch)/d eta = 3.51 +/- 0.15(stat.) +/- 0.25(syst.) for nonsingle diffractive interactions. These results are consistent with previous measurements in proton-antiproton interactions at the same centre-of-mass energy at the CERN Sp<(p)over bar>S collider. They also illustrate the excellent functioning and rapid progress of the LHC accelerator, and of both the hardware and software of the ALICE experiment, in this early start-up phase.
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24. |
- Abelev, B., et al.
(author)
-
Azimuthal anisotropy of D-meson production in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=2.76 TeV
- 2014
-
In: Physical Review C (Nuclear Physics). - 0556-2813. ; 90:3
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The production of the prompt charmed mesonsD(0), D+, andD(*+) relative to the reaction plane was measured in Pb-Pb collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon-nucleon collision of root s(NN) = 2.76 TeV with the ALICE detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. D mesons were reconstructed via their hadronic decays at central rapidity in the transverse-momentum (pT) interval 2-16 GeV/c. The azimuthal anisotropy is quantified in terms of the second coefficient v(2) in a Fourier expansion of the D-meson azimuthal distribution and in terms of the nuclear modification factor R-AA, measured in the direction of the reaction plane and orthogonal to it. The v(2) coefficient was measured with three different methods and in three centrality classes in the interval 0%-50%. A positive v(2) is observed in midcentral collisions (30%-50% centrality class), with a mean value of 0.204(-0.036)(+0.099) (tot.unc.) in the interval 2 < pT < 6 GeV/c, which decreases towards more central collisions (10%-30% and 0%-10% classes). The positive v(2) is also reflected in the nuclear modification factor, which shows a stronger suppression in the direction orthogonal to the reaction plane formidcentral collisions. The measurements are compared to theoretical calculations of charm-quark transport and energy loss in high-density strongly interacting matter at high temperature. The models that include substantial elastic interactions with an expanding medium provide a good description of the observed anisotropy. However, they are challenged to simultaneously describe the strong suppression of high-pT yield of D mesons in central collisions and their azimuthal anisotropy in noncentral collisions.
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25. |
- Abelev, B., et al.
(author)
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Centrality dependence of pi, K, and p production in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=2.76 TeV
- 2013
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In: Physical Review C (Nuclear Physics). - 0556-2813. ; 88:4
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In this paper measurements are presented of pi(+/-), K-+/-, p, and (p) over bar production at midrapidity (vertical bar y vertical bar < 0.5), in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN) = 2.76 TeV as a function of centrality. The measurement covers the transverse-momentum (p(T)) range from 100, 200, and 300 MeV/c up to 3, 3, and 4.6 GeV/c for pi, K, and p, respectively. The measured p(T) distributions and yields are compared to expectations based on hydrodynamic, thermal and recombination models. The spectral shapes of central collisions show a stronger radial flow than measured at lower energies, which can be described in hydrodynamic models. In peripheral collisions, the p(T) distributions are not well reproduced by hydrodynamic models. Ratios of integrated particle yields are found to be nearly independent of centrality. The yield of protons normalized to pions is a factor similar to 1.5 lower than the expectation from thermal models.
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