Multiplicity dependence of $\Xi_c^+$ and $\Xi_c^0$ production in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV

Abstract

The first measurement at midrapidity ($|y| < 0.5$) of the production yield of the strange-charm baryons $\Xi_c^+$ and $\Xi_c^0$ as a function of transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) in different charged-particle multiplicity classes in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV with the ALICE experiment at the LHC is reported. The $\Xi_c^+$ baryon is reconstructed via the $\Xi_c^+ \rightarrow \Xi^-\pi^+\pi^+$ decay channel in the range $4 < p_{\rm T} < 12$ GeV/$c$, while the $\Xi_c^0$ baryon is reconstructed via both the $\Xi_c^0 \rightarrow \Xi^-\pi^+$ and $\Xi_c^0 \rightarrow \Xi^-e^+\nu_e$ decay channels in the range $2 < p_{\rm T} < 12$ GeV/$c$. The baryon-to-meson ($\Xi_c^{0,+}/{\rm D}^0$) and the baryon-to-baryon ($\Xi_c^{0,+}/\Lambda_{\rm c}^+$) production yield ratios show no significant dependence on multiplicity. In addition, the observed yield ratios are not described by theoretical predictions that model charm-quark fragmentation based on measurements at $e^+e^-$ and $e^-$p colliders, indicating differences in the charm-baryon production mechanism in pp collisions. A comparison with different event generators and tunings, including different modelling of the hadronisation process, is also discussed. Moreover, the branching-fraction ratio of BR($\Xi_c^0 \rightarrow \Xi^-e^+\nu_e$)/BR($\Xi_c^0 \rightarrow \Xi^-\pi^+$) is measured as 0.825 $\pm$ 0.094 (stat.) $\pm$ 0.081 (syst.). This value supersedes the previous ALICE measurement, improving the statistical precision by a factor of 1.6.