Measurement of K*(892)± production in inelastic pp collisions at the LHC

The first results on K ^⁎(892) ^± resonance production in inelastic pp collisions at LHC energies of s=5.02, 8, and 13 TeV are presented. The K ^⁎(892) ^± has been reconstructed via its hadronic decay channel K ^⁎(892)→±K _S ⁰+π ^± with the ALICE detector. Measurements of transverse momentum distributions, p _T-integrated yields, and mean transverse momenta for charged K ^⁎(892) are found to be consistent with previous ALICE measurements for neutral K ^⁎(892) within uncertainties. For p _T>1 GeV/c the K ^⁎(892) ^± transverse momentum spectra become harder with increasing centre-of-mass energy from 5.02 to 13 TeV, similar to what previously observed for charged kaons and pions. For p _T<1 GeV/c the K ^⁎(892) ^± yield does not evolve significantly and the abundance of K ^⁎(892) ^± relative to K is rather independent of the collision energy. The transverse momentum spectra, measured for K ^⁎(892) ^± at midrapidity in the interval 0 < p _T<15 GeV/c, are not well described by predictions of different versions of PYTHIA 6, PYTHIA 8 and EPOS-LHC event generators. These generators reproduce the measured p _T-integrated K ^⁎±/K ratios and describe well the momentum dependence for p _T<2 GeV/c.