Measurement of D0, D+, D∗+ and Ds+ production in pp collisions at √s = 5.02 TeV with ALICE

Abstract

The measurements of the production of prompt D0, D+, D∗+, and D+s mesons in proton–proton (pp) collisions at √s = 5.02 TeV with the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are reported. D mesons were reconstructed at mid-rapidity (|y| < 0.5) via their hadronic decay channels D0 → K−π+, D+ → K−π+π+,D∗+ → D0π+ → K−π+π+, D+s → φπ+ → K+K−π+,and their charge conjugates. The production cross sections were measured in the transverse momentum interval 0 <pT < 36 GeV/c for D0, 1 < pT < 36 GeV/c for D+and D∗+, and in 2 < pT < 24 GeV/c for D+s mesons. Thanks to the higher integrated luminosity, an analysis infiner pT bins with respect to the previous measurements at√s = 7 TeV was performed, allowing for a more detailed description of the cross-section pT shape. The measured pT differential production cross sections are compared to the results at √s = 7 TeV and to four different perturbative QCD calculations. Its rapidity dependence is also tested combining the ALICE and LHCb measurements in pp collisions at √s = 5.02 TeV. This measurement will allow for a more accurate determination of the nuclear modification factor in p–Pb and Pb–Pb collisions performed at the same nucleon–nucleon centre-of-mass energy.