Measurement of ω meson production in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV

Abstract

The p_T-differential cross section of ω meson production in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV at midrapidity (|y| < 0.5) was measured with the ALICE detector at the LHC, covering an unprecedented transverse-momentum range of 1.6 < p_T < 50 GeV/c. The meson is reconstructed via the ω -> π^+ π^- π^0 decay channel. The results are compared with various theoretical calculations: PYTHIA8.2 with the Monash 2013 tune overestimates the data by up to 50%, whereas good agreement is observed with Next-to-Leading Order (NLO) calculations incorporating ω fragmentation using a broken SU(3) model. The ω/π^0 ratio is presented and compared with theoretical calculations and the available measurements at lower collision energies. The presented data triples the p_T ranges of previously available measurements. A constant ratio of C^(ω/π0) = 0.578 ± 0.006 (stat.) ± 0.013 (syst.) is found above a transverse momentum of 4 GeV/c, which is in agreement with previous findings at lower collision energies within the systematic and statistical uncertainties.