φ meson production in Pb-Pb collisions at √sNN = 5.02 TeV with ALICE at the LHC

Abstract

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 Quark-Gluon Plasma. The φ meson, due to its ss¯ valence quark content, provides insight into strangeness production. The ALICE experiment has measured φ meson production in the dimuon channel in the forward rapidity region 2.5 < y < 4 in Pb–Pb collisions at √sNN = 5.02 TeV. The preliminary φ meson pT spectra for different centrality classes and the yield as a function of the collision centrality in the transverse momentum range 2 < pT < 7 GeV/c are presented. These results are also compared with the ones previously obtained in Pb–Pb collisions at √sNN = 2.76 TeV.