Strangeness production at LHC energies as measured with ALICE

Abstract

The main objective of the ALICE experiment is to study the properties and the evolution of the high-energy density system created in relativistic heavy-ion collisions at the LHC. For that purpose, ALICE has unique particle identification capabilities that enable the detection of weakly-decaying particles in the high-multiplicity environment created in lead-lead (Pb-Pb) collisions. In this work, we discuss the systematic measurements of strange and multi-strange hadrons performed by ALICE for proton-proton (pp), proton-lead (p-Pb) and Pb-Pb collisions. Production rates measured for p-Pb and Pb-Pb are compared to predictions from statistical hadronization models and to measurements performed in pp collisions. These data are also used for a brief discussion on strangeness enhancement