Excitation Functions of Tsallis-Like Parameters in High-Energy Nucleus–Nucleus Collisions

The transverse momentum spectra of charged pions, kaons, and protons produced at mid-rapidity in central nucleus–nucleus (AA) collisions at high energies are analyzed by considering particles to be created from two participant partons, which are assumed to be contributors from the collision system. Each participant (contributor) parton is assumed to contribute to the transverse momentum by a Tsallis-like function. The contributions of the two participant partons are regarded as the two components of transverse momentum of the identified particle. The experimental data measured in high-energy AA collisions by international collaborations are studied. The excitation functions of kinetic freeze-out temperature and transverse flow velocity are extracted. The two parameters increase quickly from ≈3 to ≈10 GeV (exactly from 2.7 to 7.7 GeV) and then slowly at above 10 GeV with the increase of collision energy. In particular, there is a plateau from near 10 GeV to 200 GeV in the excitation function of kinetic freeze-out temperature.

Neutral Meson and Direct Photon Measurements with the ALICE Experiment

The ALICE experiment is designed to study the properties of the matter created in proton-proton and heavy-ion collisions at the LHC. Neutral mesons can be reconstructed in ALICE in a wide range of transverse momenta via two-photon decays. Neutral meson measurements in pp collisions give an opportunity to validate the NLO or NNLO pQCD calculations and to constrain the parton distribution functions and the parton fragmentation functions. Neutral meson spectra measured in pA and AA collisions allow us to test a modification of the parton distribution functions in nuclei and the parton energy loss in the hot matter created in AA collisions. The recent results from ALICE on direct photon measurements in the Pb–Pb, neutral pion and n meson productions in pp, p-Pb, and Pb–Pb collisions are presented.