Speaker
Description
Charm-quark hadronisation can be investigated by measuring the relative abundance of various particle species, in particular non-strange D mesons ($\rm{D^0}$, $\rm{D^+}$, $\rm{D^{*+}}$), $\rm{D_s^+}$ mesons, and charm baryons ($\rm{\Lambda_{c}^+}$, $\rm{\Xi_c^0}$). The high precision tracking, good vertexing capabilities and excellent particle identification granted by the ALICE apparatus allows measuring hadrons containing charm quarks over a wide momentum range in pp and pA collisions. Measurements of the charmed-baryon production in small systems are also a fundamental reference for heavy-ion collisions, where an enhancement of the baryon-to-meson ratio could derive from hadronisation via coalescence of charm quarks with the quarks of the Quark-Gluon Plasma formed in these collisions.\
In this talk, recent measurements of charmed meson and baryon production in pp collisions and in p-Pb collisions with the ALICE experiment are presented and compared with theoretical calculations. The results include the $p_{\rm T}$-differential cross section of $\rm{\Lambda_{c}^+}$ and $\rm{\Xi_c^0}$ baryons, and the $\rm{\Lambda_{c}^+} / \rm{D^0}$ ratio. The measured values of $\rm{\Lambda_{c}^+} / \rm{D^0}$ baryon-to-meson ratio are significantly higher than what expected from model expectations and previous measurements at $e^+e^-$ and $e$-p colliders.
