Measurement of pion, kaon and proton production in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV

TL;DR

This paper reports on the measurement of primary pion, kaon, and proton production in proton-proton collisions at 7 TeV using ALICE at the LHC, providing detailed spectra and ratios to test QCD models.

Contribution

It presents new measurements of identified particle spectra and ratios at 7 TeV, comparing them with models and lower energy results to enhance understanding of particle production mechanisms.

Findings

Spectra measured from 0.1 to 6 GeV/c for different particles.

Particle ratios and yields are consistent with QCD-inspired models.

Average transverse momenta are compared across energies.

Abstract

The measurement of primary $\pi^{\pm}$, K$^{\pm}$, p and $\overline{p}$ production at mid-rapidity ($|y| <$ 0.5) in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 7$ TeV performed with ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is reported. Particle identification is performed using the specific ionization energy loss and time-of-flight information, the ring-imaging Cherenkov technique and the kink-topology identification of weak decays of charged kaons. Transverse momentum spectra are measured from 0.1 up to 3 GeV/$c$ for pions, from 0.2 up to 6 GeV/$c$ for kaons and from 0.3 up to 6 GeV/$c$ for protons. The measured spectra and particle ratios are compared with QCD-inspired models, tuned to reproduce also the earlier measurements performed at the LHC. Furthermore, the integrated particle yields and ratios as well as the average transverse momenta are compared with results at lower collision energies.