Hadronization studies at the LHC with ALICE

Abstract

Studies of the production of heavy-flavour baryons are of prominent importance to investigate hadronization mechanisms at the LHC, in particular through the study of the evolution of the baryon-over-meson production ratio. Measurements performed in pp and p--Pb collisions at the LHC have revealed unexpected features, qualitatively similar to what was observed in heavy-ion collisions and, in the charm sector, not in line with the expectations based on previous measurements from $\rm e^+e^-$ colliders and in ep collisions. These results suggest that charmed baryon formation might not be universal and that the baryon-over-meson ratio depends on the collision system or multiplicity. A review of ALICE measurements of charmed baryons, including $\rm Λ_c^+/D^0$ as a function of charged-particle multiplicity in pp, p--Pb and Pb--Pb collisions, $\rm Σ_c^{0, +, ++}/D^0$ and $\rm Ξ_c^{0, +}/D^0$ as a function of $p_{\rm T}$ in pp collisions and $\rm Γ(Ξ_c^0\rightarrowΞ^-e^+ν_e)/Γ(Ξ_c^0\rightarrowΞ^-π^+)$, will be presented. Comparison to phenomenological models will be also discussed. Emphasis will be given to the discussion of the impact of these studies on the understanding of hadronization processes.