Space-time evolution of particle emission in p–Pb collisions at TeV with 3D kaon femtoscopy

The ALICE collaboration

doi:10.1007/JHEP04(2026)113

Space-time evolution of particle emission in p–Pb collisions at TeV with 3D kaon femtoscopy

The ALICE collaboration

European Organization for Nuclear Research
Clermont-Auvergne University
Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre India
INFN Sezione di Torino
INFN Sezione di Bologna
Aligarh Muslim University
Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information
University of P.J. Šafárik
FIAS
GSI Helmholtzzentrum fur Schwerionenforschung
Central China Normal University
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
University of Houston
Sungkyunkwan University
University of Bergen
Sezione INFN di Cagliari
Goethe University Frankfurt am Main
INFN Sezione di Bari
Technical University of Munich
Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla
Horia Hulubei National Institute of Physics and Nuclear Engineering
University of Derby
University of Münster
University of Heidelberg
INFN
Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Université de Nantes
LTHE (UMR 5564 CNRS/IRD/Université de Grenoble)
University of São Paulo
University of Oslo
Yale University
University of Tokyo
INFN Sezione di Catania
Université Paris-Saclay
Kangwon National University
University of Science and Technology of China
Indian Institute of Technology Indore
University of Jammu
Agh University of Science and Technology Faculty of Computer Science
University of Athens
Gauhati University
Wigner Research Centre for Physics
University of Liverpool
Lund University
Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú
Niels Bohr Institutet
Université de Strasbourg
Universidad Autonoma de Sinaloa
Institute of Space Sciences
Czech Technical University in Prague
Nuclear Physics Institute ASCR
Bose Institute
The University of Texas at Austin
University of Pavia
INFN Sezione di Pavia
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Pusan National University
University of Brescia
Politecnico di Bari
Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski
Daresbury Laboratory
Marietta Blau Institute
National Research Foundation
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
Institute for Nuclear Physics
Sezione di Roma
INFN Sezione di Trieste
University 'Politehnica' of Bucharest
University of Lyon
Warsaw University of Technology
An OCC of Homi Bhabha National Institute
Fudan University
Max-Planck-Institut für Physik
Inha University
Czech Technical University in Prague
Science Park 105
University of Tsukuba
ENEA Climate Modeling and Impacts
University of Birmingham
Laboratory of Molecular Pathology
Federal University of ABC (UFABC)
University of California, Berkeley
Università di Foggia
Centro de Aplicaciones Tecnológicas y Desarrollo Nuclear
University of Cape Town
Comenius University
Hiroshima University
LNF-INFN
Politecnico di Torino
Saga University
Chicago State University
University of Kansas
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
University of Tennessee
Nagasaki Institute of Applied Science
Wayne State University
Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, University of Split
Universiteit Utrecht
Yerevan Physics Institute
University of Campinas (UNICAMP)
Yonsei University
University of Jyväskylä
University Bonn
Faculty of Technology
CINVESTAV-IPN
The Ohio State University
Technical University of Kosice
National Research and Innovation Agency - BRIN
China Institute of Atomic Energy
Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares de la UNAM
Suranaree University of Technology
Institute of Experimental Physics Slovak Academy of Sciences
KTO Karatay University
University of Zagreb
Chonbuk National University
Sejong University
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Panjab University
National Centre for Nuclear Research (NCBJ)
Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia dell’Università and Sezione INFN
University College of Southeast Norway
University of Messina
Helsinki Institute of Physics
Chungbuk National University
China University of Geosciences
Creighton University
Wroclaw University
National Nuclear Research Center
University of Tübingen
Nara Women's University
Bogolyubov Institute for Theoretical Physics Nasu
Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The measurement of three-dimensional femtoscopic correlations between identical charged kaons (K^±K^±) produced in p–Pb collisions at center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair TeV with ALICE at the LHC is presented for the first time. This measurement, supplementary to those in pp and Pb–Pb collisions, allows understanding the particle-production mechanisms at different charged-particle multiplicities and provides information on the dynamics of the source of particles created in p–Pb collisions, for which a general consensus does not yet exist. It is shown that the measured source sizes increase with charged-particle multiplicity and decrease with increasing pair transverse momentum. These trends for K^±K^± are similar to the ones observed earlier in identical charged-pion and correlations in Pb–Pb collisions at various energies and in π^±π^± correlations in p–Pb collisions at TeV. At comparable multiplicity, the source sizes measured in p–Pb collisions agree within uncertainties with those observed in pp collisions, and there is an indication that they are smaller than those observed in Pb–Pb collisions. The obtained results are also compared with predictions from the hadronic interaction model EPOS 3, which tends to underestimate the source size for the most central collisions and agrees with the data for semicentral and peripheral events. Furthermore, the time of maximal emission for kaons is extracted. It turns out to be comparable with the value obtained in highly peripheral Pb–Pb collisions at the same energy, indicating that the kaon emission evolution is similar to that in p–Pb collisions.

Original language	English
Article number	113
Journal	Journal of High Energy Physics
Volume	2026
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP04(2026)113
Publication status	Published - 1 Apr 2026
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Heavy Ion Experiments
Particle Correlations and Fluctuations
Relativistic Heavy Ion Physics

Access to Document

10.1007/JHEP04(2026)113

Cite this

@article{e891116622b4451cb01d57f7f552d63a,

title = "Space-time evolution of particle emission in p{\textendash}Pb collisions at TeV with 3D kaon femtoscopy",

abstract = "The measurement of three-dimensional femtoscopic correlations between identical charged kaons (K±K±) produced in p{\textendash}Pb collisions at center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair TeV with ALICE at the LHC is presented for the first time. This measurement, supplementary to those in pp and Pb{\textendash}Pb collisions, allows understanding the particle-production mechanisms at different charged-particle multiplicities and provides information on the dynamics of the source of particles created in p{\textendash}Pb collisions, for which a general consensus does not yet exist. It is shown that the measured source sizes increase with charged-particle multiplicity and decrease with increasing pair transverse momentum. These trends for K±K± are similar to the ones observed earlier in identical charged-pion and correlations in Pb{\textendash}Pb collisions at various energies and in π±π± correlations in p{\textendash}Pb collisions at TeV. At comparable multiplicity, the source sizes measured in p{\textendash}Pb collisions agree within uncertainties with those observed in pp collisions, and there is an indication that they are smaller than those observed in Pb{\textendash}Pb collisions. The obtained results are also compared with predictions from the hadronic interaction model EPOS 3, which tends to underestimate the source size for the most central collisions and agrees with the data for semicentral and peripheral events. Furthermore, the time of maximal emission for kaons is extracted. It turns out to be comparable with the value obtained in highly peripheral Pb{\textendash}Pb collisions at the same energy, indicating that the kaon emission evolution is similar to that in p{\textendash}Pb collisions.",

keywords = "Heavy Ion Experiments, Particle Correlations and Fluctuations, Relativistic Heavy Ion Physics",

author = "\{The ALICE collaboration\} and S. Acharya and A. Agarwal and \{Aglieri Rinella\}, G. and L. Aglietta and M. Agnello and N. Agrawal and Z. Ahammed and S. Ahmad and Ahn, \{S. U.\} and I. Ahuja and A. Akindinov and V. Akishina and M. Al-Turany and D. Aleksandrov and B. Alessandro and Alfanda, \{H. M.\} and \{Alfaro Molina\}, R. and B. Ali and A. Alici and N. Alizadehvandchali and A. Alkin and J. Alme and G. Alocco and T. Alt and Altamura, \{A. R.\} and I. Altsybeev and Alvarado, \{J. R.\} and C. Andrei and N. Andreou and A. Andronic and E. Andronov and V. Anguelov and F. Antinori and P. Antonioli and N. Apadula and L. Aphecetche and H. Appelsh{\"a}user and C. Arata and S. Arcelli and R. Arnaldi and Arneiro, \{J. G.M.C.A.\} and Arsene, \{I. C.\} and M. Arslandok and A. Augustinus and R. Averbeck and D. Averyanov and Azmi, \{M. D.\} and H. Baba and A. Badal{\`a} and A. Shatat",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2026.",

year = "2026",

month = apr,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1007/JHEP04(2026)113",

language = "English",

volume = "2026",

journal = "Journal of High Energy Physics",

issn = "1126-6708",

publisher = "Springer Verlag",

number = "4",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Space-time evolution of particle emission in p–Pb collisions at TeV with 3D kaon femtoscopy

AU - The ALICE collaboration

AU - Acharya, S.

AU - Agarwal, A.

AU - Aglieri Rinella, G.

AU - Aglietta, L.

AU - Agnello, M.

AU - Agrawal, N.

AU - Ahammed, Z.

AU - Ahmad, S.

AU - Ahn, S. U.

AU - Ahuja, I.

AU - Akindinov, A.

AU - Akishina, V.

AU - Al-Turany, M.

AU - Aleksandrov, D.

AU - Alessandro, B.

AU - Alfanda, H. M.

AU - Alfaro Molina, R.

AU - Ali, B.

AU - Alici, A.

AU - Alizadehvandchali, N.

AU - Alkin, A.

AU - Alme, J.

AU - Alocco, G.

AU - Alt, T.

AU - Altamura, A. R.

AU - Altsybeev, I.

AU - Alvarado, J. R.

AU - Andrei, C.

AU - Andreou, N.

AU - Andronic, A.

AU - Andronov, E.

AU - Anguelov, V.

AU - Antinori, F.

AU - Antonioli, P.

AU - Apadula, N.

AU - Aphecetche, L.

AU - Appelshäuser, H.

AU - Arata, C.

AU - Arcelli, S.

AU - Arnaldi, R.

AU - Arneiro, J. G.M.C.A.

AU - Arsene, I. C.

AU - Arslandok, M.

AU - Augustinus, A.

AU - Averbeck, R.

AU - Averyanov, D.

AU - Azmi, M. D.

AU - Baba, H.

AU - Badalà, A.

AU - Shatat, A.

PY - 2026/4/1

Y1 - 2026/4/1

N2 - The measurement of three-dimensional femtoscopic correlations between identical charged kaons (K±K±) produced in p–Pb collisions at center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair TeV with ALICE at the LHC is presented for the first time. This measurement, supplementary to those in pp and Pb–Pb collisions, allows understanding the particle-production mechanisms at different charged-particle multiplicities and provides information on the dynamics of the source of particles created in p–Pb collisions, for which a general consensus does not yet exist. It is shown that the measured source sizes increase with charged-particle multiplicity and decrease with increasing pair transverse momentum. These trends for K±K± are similar to the ones observed earlier in identical charged-pion and correlations in Pb–Pb collisions at various energies and in π±π± correlations in p–Pb collisions at TeV. At comparable multiplicity, the source sizes measured in p–Pb collisions agree within uncertainties with those observed in pp collisions, and there is an indication that they are smaller than those observed in Pb–Pb collisions. The obtained results are also compared with predictions from the hadronic interaction model EPOS 3, which tends to underestimate the source size for the most central collisions and agrees with the data for semicentral and peripheral events. Furthermore, the time of maximal emission for kaons is extracted. It turns out to be comparable with the value obtained in highly peripheral Pb–Pb collisions at the same energy, indicating that the kaon emission evolution is similar to that in p–Pb collisions.

AB - The measurement of three-dimensional femtoscopic correlations between identical charged kaons (K±K±) produced in p–Pb collisions at center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair TeV with ALICE at the LHC is presented for the first time. This measurement, supplementary to those in pp and Pb–Pb collisions, allows understanding the particle-production mechanisms at different charged-particle multiplicities and provides information on the dynamics of the source of particles created in p–Pb collisions, for which a general consensus does not yet exist. It is shown that the measured source sizes increase with charged-particle multiplicity and decrease with increasing pair transverse momentum. These trends for K±K± are similar to the ones observed earlier in identical charged-pion and correlations in Pb–Pb collisions at various energies and in π±π± correlations in p–Pb collisions at TeV. At comparable multiplicity, the source sizes measured in p–Pb collisions agree within uncertainties with those observed in pp collisions, and there is an indication that they are smaller than those observed in Pb–Pb collisions. The obtained results are also compared with predictions from the hadronic interaction model EPOS 3, which tends to underestimate the source size for the most central collisions and agrees with the data for semicentral and peripheral events. Furthermore, the time of maximal emission for kaons is extracted. It turns out to be comparable with the value obtained in highly peripheral Pb–Pb collisions at the same energy, indicating that the kaon emission evolution is similar to that in p–Pb collisions.

KW - Heavy Ion Experiments

KW - Particle Correlations and Fluctuations

KW - Relativistic Heavy Ion Physics

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105036696506

U2 - 10.1007/JHEP04(2026)113

DO - 10.1007/JHEP04(2026)113

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:105036696506

SN - 1126-6708

VL - 2026

JO - Journal of High Energy Physics

JF - Journal of High Energy Physics

IS - 4

M1 - 113

ER -

Space-time evolution of particle emission in p–Pb collisions at TeV with 3D kaon femtoscopy

Abstract

Keywords

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