D* production in proton-proton collisions at √s= 13 TeV with ALICE at the LHC

Abstract

The main goal of the ALICE experiment is to study the Quark Gluon Plasma(QGP) state of matter. The Large Hadron Collider enables the creation of QGP by means of Pb-Pb Collisions. QGP research is important, because it provides fertile testing ground for the theory of Quantum Chromodynamics. Furthermore it is believed that QGP was the state of the Universe for a few microseconds after Big Bang. Due to the short lifespan of QGP, it is researched by means of probes. The charm quark is one of the most effective probes, due to its mass(which inversely correlates with production time) it's able to witness the full QGP lifetime. The charm quark energy loss in QGP allows discernment of QGP properties. The study of proton-proton collisions, where QGP is not presents, allows to measure the modification of probe properties due to QGP in Pb-Pb Collisions. The focus of this thesis is to provide a charm reference for further research, by measuring the cross section of the charmed D* particle in proton-proton collisions at √s= 13 TeV at the ALICE detector. The systematic uncertainties such as the yield extraction, topological selection, the effects of Particle Identifcation and the Monte Carlo p_T shape are analyzed.