Measurement of prompt hadron production ratios in pp collisions at s√=0.9 and 7 TeV

Abstract

All underlying interactions responsible for pp collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and the subsequent hadronisation process can be understood within the context of quantum chromodynamics (QCD). In the non-perturbative regime, however, precise calculations are difficult to perform and so phenomenological models must be employed. Event generators based on these models must be optimised, or ‘tuned’, to reproduce experimental observables. The observables exploited for this purpose include event variables, such as particle multiplicities, the kinematical distributions of the inclusive particle sample in each event, and the corresponding distributions for individual particle species. The generators can then be used in simulation studies when analysing data to search for physics beyond the Standard Model.