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 $\sqrt{s}=5.02$, 8, and 13 TeV are presented. The K$^{⁎}$(892)$^{±}$ has been reconstructed via its hadronic decay channel ${K}^{⁎}$(892)${}^{±}\to {K}_{S}^{0}+{\pi }^{±}$ 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.