Charged energy correlators in small systems with ALICE

TL;DR

This paper presents the first measurements of charged energy correlators in small systems using ALICE, providing insights into QCD dynamics, hadronization, and cold nuclear matter effects in pp and p-Pb collisions.

Contribution

It introduces novel measurements of charged energy correlators in small systems and compares them with models to explore hadronization and nuclear effects.

Findings

Charged EECs measured in pp collisions at 5.02 TeV.

Comparison with hadronization models constrains confinement mechanisms.

Observations in p-Pb collisions reveal cold nuclear matter effects.

Abstract

Energy-energy correlators (EECs), which are energy-weighted cross-sections of particle pairs, offer incisive probes into QCD dynamics, across the full scale of jet evolution, by separating energy scales in the jet fragmentation through the angular distance of the resulting particle pairs. Charged EECs probe the energy flux carried by pairs of the same or opposite electric charges. The interplay between energy distribution and charge conservation enables charged EECs to provide novel constraints on hadronization mechanisms. We present the first measurements of two-point charged energy correlators of inclusive jets in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 5.02$ TeV using the ALICE detector, and compare them with hadronization models to investigate different confinement mechanisms. We also present measurements in p-Pb collisions, examining cold nuclear matter effects on jet evolution.