Constraining hadronization mechanisms with Λ+c /D0 production ratios in Pb–Pb collisions at √sNN = 5.02 TeV

Abstract

The production of prompt Λ+c baryons at midrapidity (|y| < 0.5) was measured in central (0–10%) and mid-central (30–50%) Pb–Pb collisions at the center-of-mass energy per nucleon–nucleon pair √sNN = 5.02 TeV with the ALICE detector. The results are more precise, more differential in centrality, and reach much lower transverse momentum (pT = 1 GeV/c) with respect to previous measurements performed by the ALICE, STAR, and CMS Collaborations in nucleus–nucleus collisions, allowing for an extrapolation down to pT = 0. The pT-differential Λ+c /D0 ratio is enhanced with respect to the pp measurement for 4 < pT < 8 GeV/c by 3.7 standard deviations (σ ), while the pT-integrated ratios are compatible within 1σ.The observed trend is similar to that observed in the strange sector for the /K0S ratio. Model calculations including coalescence or statistical hadronization for charm-hadron formation are compared with the data.