Speaker
Description
Quantum Chromodynamics predicts the occurrence of a phase
transition from the hadronic matter to a plasma of deconfined quarks and gluons
(Quark-Gluon Plasma) at extreme conditions of temperature and energy density.
Ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions provide the means to study this phase of
matter in the laboratory.\
Strangeness production is a key tool to understand the properties
of the medium formed in heavy-ion collisions: an enhanced production of strange particles was early
proposed as one of the signatures of the QGP. The $\phi$ meson, due to its $s \bar s$ valence quark content, provides insight
into strangeness production.\
The ALICE experiment has measured $\phi$ meson production in the dimuon channel in the forward rapidity region $2.5 < y < 4$ in Pb--Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV.\
The preliminary $\phi$ meson $p_\mathrm{T}$ spectra for different centrality classes and the yield as a function of the collision centrality in the transverse momentum range $2 < p_\mathrm{T} < 7$~GeV/\textit{c} are presented. These results are also compared with the ones previously obtained in Pb--Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$ = 2.76 TeV.
| Preferred Track | QCD at High Temperature |
|---|---|
| Collaboration | ALICE |
