The study of (anti-)deuteron production in pp collisions has proven to be a powerful tool to investigate the formation mechanism of loosely bound states in high energy hadronic collisions. In this paper the production of (anti-)deuterons is studied as a function of the charged particle multiplicity in inelastic pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV using the ALICE experiment. Thanks to the large number of accumulated minimum bias events, it has been possible to measure (anti-)deuteron production in pp collisions up to the same charged particle multiplicity ($\rm{d} N_{ch}/\rm{d}\eta\sim26$) as measured in p-Pb collisions at similar centre-of-mass energies. Within the uncertainties, the deuteron yield in pp collisions resembles the one in p-Pb interactions, suggesting a common formation mechanism behind the production of light nuclei in hadronic interactions. In this context the measurements are compared with the expectations of coalescence and Statistical Hadronisation Models (SHM).

A measurement of dielectron production in proton-proton (pp) collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV, recorded with the ALICE detector at the CERN LHC, is presented in this Letter. The data set was recorded with a reduced magnetic solenoid field. This enables the investigation of a kinematic domain at low dielectron invariant mass $m_{\rm ee}$ and pair transverse momentum $p_{\rm T,ee}$ that was previously inaccessible at the LHC. The cross section for dielectron production is studied as a function of $m_{\rm ee}$, $p_{\rm T,ee}$, and event multiplicity ${\rm d} N_{\rm ch}/{\rm d} \eta$. The expected dielectron rate from hadron decays, called hadronic cocktail, utilizes a parametrization of the measured $\eta/\pi^0$ ratio in pp and proton-nucleus (p-A) collisions, assuming that this ratio shows no strong dependence on collision energy at low transverse momentum. Comparison of the measured dielectron yield to the hadronic cocktail at $0.15<m_{\rm ee}<0.6$ GeV/$c^2$ and for $p_{\rm T,ee} < 0.4$ GeV/$c$ indicates an enhancement of soft dielectrons, reminiscent of the 'anomalous' soft-photon and -dilepton excess in hadron-hadron collisions reported by several experiments under different experimental conditions. The enhancement factor over the hadronic cocktail amounts to $1.61\pm 0.13\,(\rm{stat.})\pm 0.17\,(\rm{syst., data}) \pm 0.34\,(\rm{syst., cocktail})$ in the ALICE acceptance. Acceptance-corrected excess spectra in $m_{\rm ee}$ and $p_{\rm T,ee}$ are extracted and compared with calculations of dielectron production from hadronic bremsstrahlung and thermal radiation within a hadronic many-body approach.

This Letter presents the measurement of near-side associated per-trigger yields, denoted ridge yields, from the analysis of angular correlations of charged hadrons in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV. Long-range ridge yields are extracted for pairs of charged particles with a pseudorapidity difference of $1.4 < |\Delta\eta| < 1.8$ and a transverse momentum of $1 < p_{\rm T} < 2$ GeV/$c$, as a function of the charged-particle multiplicity measured at midrapidity. This study extends the measurements of the ridge yield to the low multiplicity region, where in hadronic collisions it is typically conjectured that a strongly-interacting medium is unlikely to be formed. The precision of the new results allows for the first direct quantitative comparison with the results obtained in $\mathrm {e^{+}e^{-}}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 91 GeV, where initial-state effects such as pre-equilibrium dynamics and collision geometry are not expected to play a role. In the multiplicity range where the $\mathrm {e^{+}e^{-}}$ results have good precision, the measured ridge yields in pp collisions are substantially larger than the limits set in $\mathrm {e^{+}e^{-}}$ annihilations. Consequently, the findings presented in this Letter suggest that the processes involved in $\mathrm {e^{+}e^{-}}$ annihilations do not contribute significantly to the emergence of long-range correlations in pp collisions.

Production of inclusive charmonia in pp collisions at center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV and p-Pb collisions at center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 8.16 TeV is studied as a function of charged-particle pseudorapidity density with ALICE. Ground and excited charmonium states (J/$\psi$, $\psi$(2S)) are measured from their dimuon decays in the interval of rapidity in the center-of-mass frame $2.5 < y_{\rm cms} < 4.0$ for pp collisions, and $2.03 < y_{\rm cms} < 3.53$ and $-4.46 < y_{\rm cms} < -2.96$ for p-Pb collisions. The charged-particle pseudorapidity density is measured around midrapidity ($|\eta|<1.0$). In pp collisions, the measured charged-particle multiplicity extends to about six times the average value, while in p-Pb collisions at forward (backward) rapidity a multiplicity corresponding to about three (four) times the average is reached. The $\psi$(2S) yield increases with the charged-particle pseudorapidity density. The ratio of $\psi$(2S) over J/$\psi$ yield does not show a significant multiplicity dependence in either colliding system, suggesting a similar behavior of J/$\psi$ and $\psi$(2S) yields with respect to charged-particle pseudorapidity density. Results for the $\psi$(2S) yield and its ratio with respect to J/$\psi$ agree with available model calculations.

Understanding the production mechanism of light (anti)nuclei is one of the key challenges of nuclear physics and has important consequences for astrophysics, since it provides an input for indirect dark-matter searches in space. In this paper, the latest results about the production of light (anti)nuclei in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV are presented, focusing on the comparison with the predictions of coalescence and thermal models. For the first time, the coalescence parameters $B_2$ for deuterons and $B_3$ for helions are compared with parameter-free theoretical predictions that are directly constrained by the femtoscopic measurement of the source radius in the same event class. A fair description of the data with a Gaussian wave function is observed for both deuteron and helion, supporting the coalescence mechanism for the production of light (anti)nuclei in pp collisions. This method paves the way for future investigations of the internal structure of more complex nuclear clusters, including the hypertriton.

Long- and short-range correlations for pairs of charged particles are studied via two-particle angular correlations in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV and p$-$Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}} = 5.02$ TeV. The correlation functions are measured as a function of relative azimuthal angle $\Delta\varphi$ and pseudorapidity separation $\Delta\eta$ for pairs of primary charged particles within the pseudorapidity interval $|\eta| < 0.9$ and the transverse-momentum interval $1 < p_{\rm T} < 4$ GeV/$c$. Flow coefficients are extracted for the long-range correlations ($1.6 < |\Delta\eta| <1.8$) in various high-multiplicity event classes using the low-multiplicity template fit method. The method is used to subtract the enhanced yield of away-side jet fragments in high-multiplicity events. These results show decreasing flow signals toward lower multiplicity events. Furthermore, the flow coefficients for events with hard probes, such as jets or leading particles, do not exhibit any significant changes compared to those obtained from high-multiplicity events without any specific event selection criteria. The results are compared with hydrodynamic-model calculations, and it is found that a better understanding of the initial conditions is necessary to describe the results, particularly for low-multiplicity events.

The fractions of non-prompt (i.e. originating from beauty-hadron decays) D$^0$ and D$^+$ mesons with respect to the inclusive yield are measured as a function of the charged-particle multiplicity in proton$-$proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The results are reported in intervals of transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) and integrated in the range $1 < p_{\rm T} < 24$ GeV/$c$. The fraction of non-prompt D$^0$ and D$^+$ mesons is found to increase slightly as a function of $p_{\rm T}$ in all the measured multiplicity intervals, while no significant dependence on the charged-particle multiplicity is observed. In order to investigate the production and hadronisation mechanisms of charm and beauty quarks, the results are compared to PYTHIA 8 as well as EPOS 3 and EPOS 4 Monte Carlo simulations, and to calculations based on the colour glass condensate including three-pomeron fusion.

The production of $\pi^\pm$, ${\rm K}^\pm$, and $(\overline{\rm p})$p is measured in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV in different topological regions. Particle transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) spectra are measured in the ``toward'', ``transverse'', and ``away'' angular regions defined with respect to the direction of the leading particle in the event. While the toward and away regions contain the fragmentation products of the near-side and away-side jets, respectively, the transverse region is dominated by particles from the Underlying Event (UE). The relative transverse activity classifier, $R_{\rm T}=N_{\rm T}/\langle N_{\rm T}\rangle$, is used to group events according to their UE activity, where $N_{\rm T}$ is the measured charged-particle multiplicity per event in the transverse region and $\langle N_{\rm T}\rangle$ is the mean value over all the analysed events. The first measurements of identified particle $p_{\rm T}$ spectra as a function of $R_{\rm T}$ in the three topological regions are reported. The yield of high transverse momentum particles relative to the $R_{\rm T}$-integrated measurement decreases with increasing $R_{\rm T}$ in both the toward and away regions, indicating that the softer UE dominates particle production as $R_{\rm T}$ increases and validating that $R_{\rm T}$ can be used to control the magnitude of the UE. Conversely, the spectral shapes in the transverse region harden significantly with increasing $R_{\rm T}$. This hardening follows a mass ordering, being more significant for heavier particles. The $p_{\rm T}$-differential particle ratios $({\rm p+\overline{p}})/(\pi^+ +\pi^-)$ and $({\rm K^+ +K^-})/(\pi^+ +\pi^-)$ in the low UE limit $(R_{\rm T}\rightarrow 0)$ approach expectations from Monte Carlo generators such as PYTHIA 8 with Monash 2013 tune and EPOS LHC, where the jet-fragmentation models have been tuned to reproduce ${\rm e^+ e^-}$ results.

We report on the inclusive J/$\psi$ production cross section measured at the CERN Large Hadron Collider in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s}~=~13$ TeV. The J/$\psi$ mesons are reconstructed in the $\rm e^{+} e^{-}$ decay channel and the measurements are performed at midrapidity ($|y|<0.9$) in the transverse-momentum interval $0< p_{\rm T} <40$ GeV/$c$, using a minimum bias data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity $L_{\text{int}} = 32.2~\text{nb}^{-1}$ and an Electromagnetic Calorimeter triggered data sample with $L_{\text{int}} = 8.3~\mathrm{pb}^{-1}$. The $p_{\rm T}$-integrated J/$\psi$ production cross section at midrapidity, computed using the minimum bias data sample, is $\text{d}\sigma/\text{d}y|_{y=0} = 8.97\pm0.24~(\text{stat})\pm0.48~(\text{syst})\pm0.15~(\text{lumi})~\mu\text{b}$. An approximate logarithmic dependence with the collision energy is suggested by these results and available world data, in agreement with model predictions. The integrated and $p_{\rm T}$-differential measurements are compared with measurements in pp collisions at lower energies and with several recent phenomenological calculations based on the non-relativistic QCD and Color Evaporation models.

The measurement of the production of charm jets, identified by the presence of a ${\rm D^0}$ meson in the jet constituents, is presented in proton-proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies of $\sqrt{s}$ = 5.02 and 13 TeV with the ALICE detector at the CERN LHC. The ${\rm D^0}$ mesons were reconstructed from their hadronic decay ${\rm D^0} \rightarrow {\rm K^-}\pi^+$ and the respective charge conjugate. Jets were reconstructed from ${\rm D^0}$-meson candidates and charged particles using the anti-$k_{\rm T}$ algorithm, in the jet transverse momentum range $5<p_{\rm T;chjet}<50$ GeV/$c$, pseudorapidity $|\eta_{\rm jet}| <0.9-R$, and with the jet resolution parameters $R$ = 0.2, 0.4, 0.6. The distribution of the jet momentum fraction carried by a ${\rm D^0}$ meson along the jet axis ($z^{\rm ch}_{||}$) was measured in the range $0.4 < z^{\rm ch}_{||} < 1.0$ in four ranges of the jet transverse momentum. Comparisons of results for different collision energies and jet resolution parameters are also presented. The measurements are compared to predictions from Monte Carlo event generators based on leading-order and next-to-leading-order perturbative quantum chromodynamics calculations. A generally good description of the main features of the data is obtained in spite of a few discrepancies at low $p_{\rm T;chjet}$. Measurements were also done for $R = 0.3$ at $\sqrt{s}$ = 5.02 TeV and are shown along with their comparisons to theoretical predictions in an appendix to this paper.