The $p_{\rm T}$-differential inclusive production cross section of the prompt charm-strange meson $\rm D_s^+$ in the rapidity range $|y|<0.5$ was measured in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV at the LHC using the ALICE detector. The analysis was performed on a data sample of $2.98 \times 10^8$ events collected with a minimum-bias trigger. The corresponding integrated luminosity is $L_{\rm int}=4.8$/nb. Reconstructing the decay ${\rm D_s^{+}\to \phi\pi^+}$, with $\phi\to {\rm K}^-{\rm K}^+$, and its charge conjugate, about 480 ${\rm D_s^{\pm}}$ mesons were counted, after selection cuts, in the transverse momentum range $2<p_{\rm T}<12$ Gev/$c$. The results are compared with predictions from models based on perturbative QCD. The ratios of the cross sections of four D meson species (namely ${\rm D^0}$, ${\rm D^+}$, ${\rm D^{*+}}$ and ${\rm D_s^+}$) were determined both as a function of $p_{\rm T}$ and integrated over $p_{\rm T}$ after extrapolating to full $p_{\rm T}$ range, together with the strangeness suppression factor in charm fragmentation. The obtained values are found to be compatible within uncertainties with those measured by other experiments in $\rm e^+e^-$, ep and pp interactions at various centre-of-mass energies.
pT-integrated ratios of D meson production cross sections and the strangeness suppression factor gamma_s in |y| < 0.5. The second systematic uncertainty arises from the branching ratios.
The measurement of the production of ${\rm f}_{0}(980)$ in inelastic pp collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 5.02$ TeV is presented. This is the first reported measurement of inclusive ${\rm f}_{0}(980)$ yield at LHC energies. The production is measured at midrapidity, $|y| < 0.5$, in a wide transverse momentum range, $0 < p_{\rm T} < 16$ GeV/$c$, by reconstructing the resonance in the ${\rm f}_{0}(980) \rightarrow \pi^{+}\pi^{-}$ hadronic decay channel using the ALICE detector. The $p_{\rm T}$-differential yields are compared to those of pions, protons and $\phi$ mesons as well as to predictions from the HERWIG 7.2 QCD-inspired Monte Carlo event generator and calculations from a coalescence model that uses the AMPT model as an input. The ratio of the $p_{\rm T}$-integrated yield of ${\rm f}_{0}(980)$ relative to pions is compared to measurements in ${\rm e}^{+}{\rm e}^{-}$ and pp collisions at lower energies and predictions from statistical hadronisation models and HERWIG 7.2. A mild collision energy dependence of the ${\rm f}_{0}(980)$ to pion production is observed in pp collisions from SPS to LHC energies. All considered models underpredict the $p_{\rm T}$-integrated $2{\rm f}_{0}(980)/(\pi^{+}+\pi^{-})$ ratio. The prediction from the canonical statistical hadronisation model assuming a zero total strangeness content of ${\rm f}_{0}(980)$ is consistent with the data within 1.9$\sigma$ and is the closest to the data. The results provide an essential reference for future measurements of the particle yield and nuclear modification in p$-$Pb and Pb$-$Pb collisions, which have been proposed to be instrumental to probe the elusive nature and quark composition of the ${\rm f}_{0}(980)$ scalar meson.
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