Eur. Phys. J. C (2009) 62: 237-242
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-009-0910-9

Regular Article - Experimental Physics

Bulk matter physics and its future at the Large Hadron Collider

Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien, Département de Recherches Subatomiques and Université Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg, France

^* e-mail: hippolyt@in2p3.fr

Received: 7 October 2008
Revised: 20 January 2009
Published online: 3 February 2009

Abstract

Measurements at low transverse momentum will be performed at the LHC for studying particle production mechanisms in pp and heavy-ion collisions. Some of the experimental capabilities for bulk matter physics are presented, focusing on tracking elements and particle identification. In order to anticipate the study of baryon production for both colliding systems at multi-TeV energies, measurements for identified species and recent model extrapolations are discussed. Several mechanisms are expected to compete for hadro-production in the low momentum region. For this reason, experimental observables that could be used for investigating multi-parton interactions and help understanding the “underlying event” content in the first pp collisions at the LHC are also mentioned.