Measurement of reference cross sections in pp and Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC in van der Meer scans with the ALICE detector

TL;DR

This paper reports measurements of reference cross sections in proton-proton and lead-lead collisions at the LHC using van der Meer scans with the ALICE detector, providing essential data for luminosity calibration.

Contribution

It presents the first detailed measurement of reference cross sections in both pp and Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC using van der Meer scans, including uncertainty analysis.

Findings

Measured reference cross sections with quantified uncertainties

Demonstrated applications in luminosity calibration

Provided data for future high-energy collision analyses

Abstract

Reference cross sections have been measured with the ALICE detector in both pp and Pb-Pb collisions, in dedicated luminosity calibration experiments (van der Meer scans) at the LHC. The results and their uncertainties are discussed, together with a few selected applications.