Sudden increase in the degrees of freedom in dense QCD matter

In this paper, we analyzed charged particle transverse momentum spectra in high multiplicity events in proton–proton and nucleus–nucleus collisions at LHC energies from the ALICE experiment using the color string percolation model (CSPM). The color reduction factor and associated string density parameters are extracted for various multiplicity classes in [Formula: see text] collisions and centrality classes for heavy-ion collisions at various LHC energies to study the effect of collision geometry and collision energy. These parameters are used to extract the thermodynamical quantities temperature and the energy density of the hot nuclear matter. A universal scaling is observed in initial temperature when studied as a function of charged particle multiplicity scaled by transverse overlap area. From the measured initial energy density [Formula: see text] and the initial temperature T, a dimensionless quantity [Formula: see text] is constructed which is used to obtain the degrees of freedom (DOF) of the deconfined phase. A two-step behavior and a sudden increase in DOF of [Formula: see text]47 for the ideal gas, above the hadronization temperature (T [Formula: see text] 210[Formula: see text]MeV), are observed in case of heavy-ion collisions at LHC energies.

Unsupervised hadronic SUEP at the LHC

Confining dark sectors with pseudo-conformal dynamics produce SUEPs, or Soft Unclustered Energy Patterns, at colliders: isotropic dark hadrons with soft and democratic energies. We target the experimental nightmare scenario, SUEPs in exotic Higgs decays, where all dark hadrons decay promptly to SM hadrons. First, we identify three promising observables: the charged particle multiplicity, the event ring isotropy, and the matrix of geometric distances between charged tracks. Their patterns can be exploited through a cut-and-count search, supervised machine learning, or an unsupervised autoencoder. We find that the HL-LHC will probe exotic Higgs branching ratios at the per-cent level, even without a detailed knowledge of the signal features. Our techniques can be applied to other SUEP searches, especially the unsupervised strategy, which is independent of overly specific model assumptions and the corresponding precision simulations.

Charged-particle multiplicity fluctuations in Pb–Pb collisions at $$\sqrt{s_{\mathrm {NN}}}$$ = 2.76 TeV

Measurements of event-by-event fluctuations of charged-particle multiplicities in Pb–Pb collisions at $$\sqrt{s_{\mathrm {NN}}}$$ s NN $$=$$ = 2.76 TeV using the ALICE detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are presented in the pseudorapidity range $$|\eta |<0.8$$ | η | < 0.8 and transverse momentum $$0.2< p_{\mathrm{T}} < 2.0$$ 0.2 < p T < 2.0 GeV/c. The amplitude of the fluctuations is expressed in terms of the variance normalized by the mean of the multiplicity distribution. The $$\eta $$ η and $$p_{\mathrm{T}}$$ p T dependences of the fluctuations and their evolution with respect to collision centrality are investigated. The multiplicity fluctuations tend to decrease from peripheral to central collisions. The results are compared to those obtained from HIJING and AMPT Monte Carlo event generators as well as to experimental data at lower collision energies. Additionally, the measured multiplicity fluctuations are discussed in the context of the isothermal compressibility of the high-density strongly-interacting system formed in central Pb–Pb collisions.

Effect of color reconnection and rope formation on resonance production in p–p collisions in Pythia 8

Resonance production in proton–proton collisions at $$\sqrt{s} = 7$$ s = 7 TeV and 13 TeV have been investigated using a Pythia 8 event generator within the framework of microscopic processes including color reconnection and rope hadronization. Specifically, the observable effects of different modes of color reconnections on the ratio of yields of mesonic and baryonic resonances with respect to their stable counterpart have been explored as a function of mean charged particle multiplicity. A suppression in the ratio is observed as a function of the mean number of charged particles for mesonic resonances. The $$\phi /\mathrm {K}$$ ϕ / K and $${\phi /\pi }$$ ϕ / π ratios show an enhancement for high-multiplicity events due to enhanced production of strange quarks via the microscopic process of rope hadronization in the partonic phase. The mechanism of the hadronization of color ropes together with the quark–gluon plasma (QCD)-based color reconnection of partons predicted an enhancement in the ratio for baryonic resonances to non-resonance baryons having similar quark content. The yield ratios of resonances are found to be independent of the collision energy and strongly dependent on event activity.

Bulk observables at 5.02 TeV using quasiparticle anisotropic hydrodynamics

We compare predictions of 3+1D quasiparticle anisotropic hydrodynamics (aHydroQP) for a large set of bulk observables with experimental data collected in 5.02 TeV Pb–Pb collisions. We make predictions for identified hadron spectra, identified hadron average transverse momentum, charged particle multiplicity as a function of pseudorapidity, the kaon-to-pion ($$K/\pi $$ K / π ) and proton-to-pion ($$p/\pi $$ p / π ) ratios, identified particle and charged particle elliptic flow, and HBT radii. We compare to data collected by the ALICE collaboration in 5.02 TeV Pb–Pb collisions. We find that, based on available data, these bulk observables are well described by aHydroQP with an assumed initial central temperature of $$T_0=630$$ T 0 = 630 MeV at $$\tau _0 = 0.25$$ τ 0 = 0.25 fm/c and a constant specific shear viscosity of $$\eta /s=0.159$$ η / s = 0.159 , which corresponds to a peak specific bulk viscosity of $$\zeta /s = 0.048$$ ζ / s = 0.048 . In particular, we find that the momentum dependence of the kaon-to-pion ($$K/\pi $$ K / π ) and proton-to-pion ($$p/\pi $$ p / π ) ratios reported recently by the ALICE collaboration are extremely well described by aHydroQP in the 0–5% centrality class.

Statistical Scrutiny of Particle Spectra in ep Collisions

Charged particle multiplicity distributions in positron–proton deep inelastic scattering at a centre-of-mass energy s = 300 GeV, measured in the hadronic centre-of-mass frames and in different pseudorapidity windows are studied in the framework of two statistical distributions, the shifted Gompertz distribution and the Weibull distribution. Normalised moments, normalised factorial moments and the H-moments of the multiplicity distributions are determined. The phenomenon of oscillatory behaviour of the counting statistics and the Koba-Nielsen-Olesen (KNO) scaling behaviour are investigated. This is the first such analysis using these data. In addition, projections of the two distributions for the expected average charged multiplicities obtainable at the proposed future ep colliders.

Multiplicity dependencies of midrapidity transverse momentum spectra of identified charged particles in p+p collisions at (s)1/2 = 13 TeV at LHC

Multiplicity dependencies of midrapidity [Formula: see text] spectra of identified charged particles in inelastic [Formula: see text] collisions at [Formula: see text] TeV at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), measured by ALICE Collaboration, have been analyzed. The combined minimum [Formula: see text] fits with thermodynamically consistent Tsallis function as well as Hagedorn function with the embedded transverse flow describe quite satisfactorily the [Formula: see text] spectra of particles in the studied 10 different classes of charged-particle multiplicity in inelastic [Formula: see text] collisions at [Formula: see text] TeV. The obtained effective temperatures [Formula: see text] of thermodynamically consistent Tsallis function demonstrate a consistent growth with an increase in multiplicity of charged particles in inelastic [Formula: see text] collisions at [Formula: see text] TeV, and the corresponding [Formula: see text] versus the average charged-particle (pseudorapidity) multiplicity density [Formula: see text] dependence is described very well by the simple power function with exponent parameter [Formula: see text] (1/3) in the whole analyzed range [Formula: see text]. It is found that the transverse (radial) flow becomes significant at higher multiplicity events in [Formula: see text] collisions at [Formula: see text] TeV, reaching the maximum value [Formula: see text] at the largest studied multiplicity density [Formula: see text]. It is estimated from analysis of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] versus [Formula: see text] dependencies, obtained using Hagedorn function with the embedded transverse flow, that the probable onset of deconfinement phase transition in inelastic [Formula: see text] collisions at [Formula: see text] TeV occurs at [Formula: see text].

Production of pions, kaons, (anti-)protons and $$\phi $$ mesons in Xe–Xe collisions at $$\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}$$ = 5.44 TeV

The first measurement of the production of pions, kaons, (anti-)protons and $$\phi $$ ϕ mesons at midrapidity in Xe–Xe collisions at $$\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}} = 5.44~\text {TeV}$$ s NN = 5.44 TeV is presented. Transverse momentum ($$p_{\mathrm{T}}$$ p T ) spectra and $$p_{\mathrm{T}}$$ p T -integrated yields are extracted in several centrality intervals bridging from p–Pb to mid-central Pb–Pb collisions in terms of final-state multiplicity. The study of Xe–Xe and Pb–Pb collisions allows systems at similar charged-particle multiplicities but with different initial geometrical eccentricities to be investigated. A detailed comparison of the spectral shapes in the two systems reveals an opposite behaviour for radial and elliptic flow. In particular, this study shows that the radial flow does not depend on the colliding system when compared at similar charged-particle multiplicity. In terms of hadron chemistry, the previously observed smooth evolution of particle ratios with multiplicity from small to large collision systems is also found to hold in Xe–Xe. In addition, our results confirm that two remarkable features of particle production at LHC energies are also valid in the collision of medium-sized nuclei: the lower proton-to-pion ratio with respect to the thermal model expectations and the increase of the $$\phi $$ ϕ -to-pion ratio with increasing final-state multiplicity.

Relating Charged Particle Multiplicity to Impact Parameter in Heavy-Ion Collisions at NICA Energies

The size and evolution of the matter created in relativistic heavy-ion collisions strongly depend on collision geometry, defined by the impact parameter. However, the impact parameter cannot be measured directly in an experiment but might be inferred from final state observables using the centrality procedure. We present the procedure of centrality determination for the Multi-Purpose Detector (MPD) at the NICA collider and its performance using the multiplicity of produced charged particles at midrapidity. The validity of the procedure is assessed using the simulated data for Au + Au collisions at sNN = 4–11 GeV.