Centrality dependence of charged particle production at large transverse momentum in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=2.76 TeV

Abstract

The inclusive transverse momentum (p(T)) distributions of primary charged particles are measured in the pseudo-rapidity range vertical bar eta vertical bar LT 0.8 as a function of event centrality in Pb-Pb collisions at root S-NN = 2.76 TeV with ALICE at the LHC. The data are presented in the p(T) range 0.15 LT p(T) LT 50 GeV/c for nine centrality intervals from 70-80% to 0-5%. The results in Pb-Pb are presented in terms of the nuclear modification factor R-AA using a pp reference spectrum measured at the same collision energy. We observe that the suppression of high-p(T) particles strongly depends on event centrality. The yield is most suppressed in central collisions (0-5%) with R-AA approximate to 0.13 at p(T) = 6-7 GeV/c. Above p(T) = 7 GeV/c, there is a significant rise in the nuclear modification factor, which reaches R-AA approximate to 0.4 for p(T) GT 30 GeV/c. In peripheral collisions (70-80%), only moderate suppression (R-AA approximate to 0.6-0.7) and a weak p(T) dependence is observed. The measured nuclear modification factors are compared to other measurements and model calculations. (C) 2013 CERN. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.