Production of $$\omega $$ mesons in pp collisions at $$\mathbf {\sqrt{s}=7\,\text {TeV}}$$

AbstractThe invariant differential cross section of inclusive $$\omega (782)$$ ω ( 782 ) meson production at midrapidity ($$|y|<0.5$$ | y | < 0.5 ) in pp collisions at $$\sqrt{s}=7\,\hbox {TeV}$$ s = 7 TeV was measured with the ALICE detector at the LHC over a transverse momentum range of $$2< p_{\mathrm {T}}< 17\,\hbox {GeV}/c$$ 2 < p T < 17 GeV / c . The $$\omega $$ ω meson was reconstructed via its $$\omega \rightarrow \pi ^+\pi ^-\pi ^0$$ ω → π + π - π 0 decay channel. The measured $$\omega $$ ω production cross section is compared to various calculations: PYTHIA 8.2 Monash 2013 describes the data, while PYTHIA 8.2 Tune 4C overestimates the data by about 50%. A recent NLO calculation, which includes a model describing the fragmentation of the whole vector-meson nonet, describes the data within uncertainties below $$6\,\hbox {GeV}/c$$ 6 GeV / c , while it overestimates the data by up to 50% for higher $$p_{\mathrm {T}}$$ p T . The $$\omega /\pi ^0$$ ω / π 0 ratio is in agreement with previous measurements at lower collision energies and the PYTHIA calculations. In addition, the measurement is compatible with transverse mass scaling within the measured $$p_{\mathrm {T}}$$ p T range and the ratio is constant with $$C^{\omega /\pi ^{0}}= 0.67 \pm 0.03 \text {~(stat)~} \pm 0.04 \text {~(sys)~}$$ C ω / π 0 = 0.67 ± 0.03 (stat) ± 0.04 (sys) above a transverse momentum of $$2.5\,\hbox {GeV}/c$$ 2.5 GeV / c .