==== Front Nature Nature Nature 0028-0836 1476-4687 Nature Publishing Group UK London 33299194 3001 10.1038/s41586-020-3001-6 Article Unveiling the strong interaction among hadrons at the LHC ALICE CollaborationAcharya S. 1 Adamová D. 2 Adler A. 3 Adolfsson J. 4 Aggarwal M. M. 5 Rinella G. Aglieri 6 Agnello M. 7 Agrawal N. 89 Ahammed Z. 1 Ahmad S. 10 Ahn S. U. 11 Akbar Z. 12 Akindinov A. 13 Al-Turany M. 14 Alam S. N. 115 Albuquerque D. S. D. 16 Aleksandrov D. 17 Alessandro B. 18 Alfanda H. M. 19 Molina R. Alfaro 20 Ali B. 10 Ali Y. 21 Alici A. 8922 Alizadehvandchali N. 23 Alkin A. 624 Alme J. 25 Alt T. 26 Altenkamper L. 25 Altsybeev I. 27 Anaam M. N. 19 Andrei C. 28 Andreou D. 6 Andronic A. 29 Angeletti M. 6 Anguelov V. 30 Anson C. 31 Antičić T. 32 Antinori F. 33 Antonioli P. 9 Apadula N. 34 Aphecetche L. 35 Appelshäuser H. 26 Arcelli S. 22 Arnaldi R. 18 Arratia M. 34 Arsene I. C. 36 Arslandok M. 30 Augustinus A. 6 Averbeck R. 14 Aziz S. 37 Azmi M. D. 10 Badalà A. 38 Baek Y. W. 39 Bagnasco S. 18 Bai X. 14 Bailhache R. 26 Bala R. 40 Balbino A. 7 Baldisseri A. 41 Ball M. 42 Balouza S. 43 Banerjee D. 44 Barbera R. 45 Barioglio L. 46 Barnaföldi G. G. 47 Barnby L. S. 48 Barret V. 49 Bartalini P. 19 Bartels C. 50 Barth K. 6 Bartsch E. 26 Baruffaldi F. 51 Bastid N. 49 Basu S. 52 Batigne G. 35 Batyunya B. 53 Bauri D. 54 Alba J. L. Bazo 55 Bearden I. G. 56 Beattie C. 57 Bedda C. 58 Behera N. K. 59 Belikov I. 60 Hechavarria A. D. C. Bell 29 Bellini F. 6 Bellwied R. 23 Belyaev V. 61 Bencedi G. 47 Beole S. 46 Bercuci A. 28 Berdnikov Y. 62 Berenyi D. 47 Bertens R. A. 63 Berzano D. 18 Besoiu M. G. 64 Betev L. 6 Bhasin A. 40 Bhat I. R. 40 Bhat M. A. 44 Bhatt H. 54 Bhattacharjee B. 65 Bianchi A. 46 Bianchi L. 46 Bianchi N. 66 Bielčík J. 67 Bielčíková J. 2 Bilandzic A. 43 Biro G. 47 Biswas R. 44 Biswas S. 44 Blair J. T. 68 Blau D. 17 Blume C. 26 Boca G. 69 Bock F. 70 Bogdanov A. 61 Boi S. 71 Bok J. 59 Boldizsár L. 47 Bolozdynya A. 61 Bombara M. 72 Bonomi G. 73 Borel H. 41 Borissov A. 61 Bossi H. 57 Botta E. 46 Bratrud L. 26 Braun-Munzinger P. 14 Bregant M. 74 Broz M. 67 Bruna E. 18 Bruno G. E. 7576 Buckland M. D. 50 Budnikov D. 77 Buesching H. 26 Bufalino S. 7 Bugnon O. 35 Buhler P. 78 Buncic P. 6 Buthelezi Z. 7980 Butt J. B. 21 Bysiak S. A. 81 Caffarri D. 82 Caliva A. 14 Villar E. Calvo 55 Camacho J. M. M. 83 Camacho R. S. 84 Camerini P. 85 Canedo F. D. M. 74 Capon A. A. 78 Carnesecchi F. 22 Caron R. 41 Castellanos J. Castillo 41 Castro A. J. 63 Casula E. A. R. 86 Catalano F. 7 Sanchez C. Ceballos 53 Chakraborty P. 54 Chandra S. 1 Chang W. 19 Chapeland S. 6 Chartier M. 50 Chattopadhyay S. 1 Chattopadhyay S. 87 Chauvin A. 71 Cheshkov C. 88 Cheynis B. 88 Barroso V. Chibante 6 Chinellato D. D. 16 Cho S. 59 Chochula P. 6 Chowdhury T. 49 Christakoglou P. 82 Christensen C. H. 56 Christiansen P. 4 Chujo T. 89 Cicalo C. 86 Cifarelli L. 822 Cilladi L. D. 46 Cindolo F. 9 Ciupek M. R. 14 Clai G. 9148 Cleymans J. 90 Colamaria F. 91 Colella D. 91 Collu A. 34 Colocci M. 22 Concas M. 18149 Balbastre G. Conesa 92 del Valle Z. Conesa 37 Contin G. 8593 Contreras J. G. 67 Cormier T. M. 70 Morales Y. Corrales 46 Cortese P. 94 Cosentino M. R. 95 Costa F. 6 Costanza S. 69 Crochet P. 49 Cuautle E. 96 Cui P. 19 Cunqueiro L. 70 Dabrowski D. 97 Dahms T. 43 Dainese A. 33 Damas F. P. A. 3541 Danisch M. C. 30 Danu A. 64 Das D. 87 Das I. 87 Das P. 98 Das P. 44 Das S. 44 Dash A. 98 Dash S. 54 De S. 98 De Caro A. 99 de Cataldo G. 91 de Cuveland J. 100 De Falco A. 71 De Gruttola D. 8 De Marco N. 18 De Pasquale S. 99 Deb S. 101 Degenhardt H. F. 74 Deja K. R. 97 Deloff A. 102 Delsanto S. 4680 Deng W. 19 Dhankher P. 54 Di Bari D. 75 Di Mauro A. 6 Diaz R. A. 103 Dietel T. 90 Dillenseger P. 26 Ding Y. 19 Divià R. 6 Dixit D. U. 104 Djuvsland Ø. 25 Dmitrieva U. 105 Dobrin A. 64 Dönigus B. 26 Dordic O. 36 Dubey A. K. 1 Dubla A. 1482 Dudi S. 5 Dukhishyam M. 98 Dupieux P. 49 Ehlers R. J. 70 Eikeland V. N. 25 Elia D. 91 Erazmus B. 35 Erhardt F. 106 Erokhin A. 27 Ersdal M. R. 25 Espagnon B. 37 Eulisse G. 6 Evans D. 107 Evdokimov S. 108 Fabbietti L. 43 Faggin M. 51 Faivre J. 92 Fan F. 19 Fantoni A. 66 Fasel M. 70 Fecchio P. 7 Feliciello A. 18 Feofilov G. 27 Téllez A. Fernández 84 Ferrero A. 41 Ferretti A. 46 Festanti A. 6 Feuillard V. J. G. 30 Figiel J. 81 Filchagin S. 77 Finogeev D. 105 Fionda F. M. 25 Fiorenza G. 91 Flor F. 23 Flores A. N. 68 Foertsch S. 79 Foka P. 14 Fokin S. 17 Fragiacomo E. 93 Frankenfeld U. 14 Fuchs U. 6 Furget C. 92 Furs A. 105 Girard M. Fusco 99 Gaardhøje J. J. 56 Gagliardi M. 46 Gago A. M. 55 Gal A. 60 Galvan C. D. 83 Ganoti P. 109 Garabatos C. 14 Garcia J. R. A. 84 Garcia-Solis E. 110 Garg K. 35 Gargiulo C. 6 Garibli A. 111 Garner K. 29 Gasik P. 1443 Gauger E. F. 68 Ducati M. B. Gay 112 Germain M. 35 Ghosh J. 87 Ghosh P. 1 Ghosh S. K. 44 Giacalone M. 22 Gianotti P. 66 Giubellino P. 1418 Giubilato P. 51 Glaenzer A. M. C. 41 Glässel P. 30 Ramirez A. Gomez 3 Gonzalez V. 1452 González-Trueba L. H. 20 Gorbunov S. 100 Görlich L. 81 Goswami A. 54 Gotovac S. 113 Grabski V. 20 Graczykowski L. K. 97 Graham K. L. 107 Greiner L. 34 Grelli A. 58 Grigoras C. 6 Grigoriev V. 61 Grigoryan A. 114 Grigoryan S. 53 Groettvik O. S. 25 Grosa F. 718 Grosse-Oetringhaus J. F. 6 Grosso R. 14 Guernane R. 92 Guittiere M. 35 Gulbrandsen K. 56 Gunji T. 115 Gupta A. 40 Gupta R. 40 Guzman I. B. 84 Haake R. 57 Habib M. K. 14 Hadjidakis C. 37 Hamagaki H. 116 Hamar G. 47 Hamid M. 19 Hannigan R. 68 Haque M. R. 5898 Harlenderova A. 14 Harris J. W. 57 Harton A. 110 Hasenbichler J. A. 6 Hassan H. 70 Hassan Q. U. 21 Hatzifotiadou D. 89 Hauer P. 42 Havener L. B. 57 Hayashi S. 115 Heckel S. T. 43 Hellbär E. 26 Helstrup H. 117 Herghelegiu A. 28 Herman T. 67 Hernandez E. G. 84 Corral G. Herrera 118 Herrmann F. 29 Hetland K. F. 117 Hillemanns H. 6 Hills C. 50 Hippolyte B. 60 Hohlweger B. 43 Honermann J. 29 Horak D. 67 Hornung A. 26 Hornung S. 14 Hosokawa R. 3189 Hristov P. 6 Huang C. 37 Hughes C. 63 Huhn P. 26 Humanic T. J. 119 Hushnud H. 87 Husova L. A. 29 Hussain N. 65 Hussain S. A. 21 Hutter D. 100 Iddon J. P. 650 Ilkaev R. 77 Ilyas H. 21 Inaba M. 89 Innocenti G. M. 6 Ippolitov M. 17 Isakov A. 2 Islam M. S. 87 Ivanov M. 14 Ivanov V. 62 Izucheev V. 108 Jacak B. 34 Jacazio N. 69 Jacobs P. M. 34 Jadlovska S. 120 Jadlovsky J. 120 Jaelani S. 58 Jahnke C. 74 Jakubowska M. J. 97 Janik M. A. 97 Janson T. 3 Jercic M. 106 Jevons O. 107 Jin M. 23 Jonas F. 2970 Jones P. G. 107 Jung J. 26 Jung M. 26 Jusko A. 107 Kalinak P. 121 Kalweit A. 6 Kaplin V. 61 Kar S. 19 Uysal A. Karasu 122 Karatovic D. 106 Karavichev O. 105 Karavicheva T. 105 Karczmarczyk P. 97 Karpechev E. 105 Kazantsev A. 17 Kebschull U. 3 Keidel R. 123 Keil M. 6 Ketzer B. 42 Khabanova Z. 82 Khan A. M. 19 Khan S. 10 Khanzadeev A. 62 Kharlov Y. 108 Khatun A. 10 Khuntia A. 81 Kileng B. 117 Kim B. 59 Kim B. 89 Kim D. 124 Kim D. J. 125 Kim E. J. 126 Kim H. 127 Kim J. 124 Kim J. S. 39 Kim J. 30 Kim J. 124 Kim J. 126 Kim M. 30 Kim S. 128 Kim T. 124 Kim T. 124 Kirsch S. 26 Kisel I. 100 Kiselev S. 13 Kisiel A. 97 Klay J. L. 129 Klein C. 26 Klein J. 618 Klein S. 34 Klein-Bösing C. 29 Kleiner M. 26 Kluge A. 6 Knichel M. L. 6 Knospe A. G. 23 Kobdaj C. 130 Köhler M. K. 30 Kollegger T. 14 Kondratyev A. 53 Kondratyeva N. 61 Kondratyuk E. 108 Konig J. 26 Konigstorfer S. A. 43 Konopka P. J. 6 Kornakov G. 97 Koska L. 120 Kovalenko O. 102 Kovalenko V. 27 Kowalski M. 81 Králik I. 121 Kravčáková A. 72 Kreis L. 14 Krivda M. 107121 Krizek F. 2 Gajdosova K. Krizkova 67 Krüger M. 26 Kryshen E. 62 Krzewicki M. 100 Kubera A. M. 119 Kučera V. 659 Kuhn C. 60 Kuijer P. G. 82 Kumar L. 5 Kundu S. 98 Kurashvili P. 102 Kurepin A. 105 Kurepin A. B. 105 Kuryakin A. 77 Kushpil S. 2 Kvapil J. 107 Kweon M. 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V. 85 Margotti A. 9 Marín A. 14 Markert C. 68 Marquard M. 26 Martin C. D. 85 Martin N. A. 30 Martinengo P. 6 Martinez J. L. 23 Martínez M. I. 84 García G. Martínez 35 Masciocchi S. 14 Masera M. 46 Masoni A. 86 Massacrier L. 37 Masson E. 35 Mastroserio A. 91135 Mathis A. M. 43 Matonoha O. 4 Matuoka P. F. T. 74 Matyja A. 81 Mayer C. 81 Mazzaschi F. 46 Mazzilli M. 91 Mazzoni M. A. 136 Mechler A. F. 26 Meddi F. 137 Melikyan Y. 61105 Menchaca-Rocha A. 20 Mengke C. 19 Meninno E. 7899 Menon A. S. 23 Meres M. 138 Mhlanga S. 90 Miake Y. 89 Micheletti L. 46 Migliorin L. C. 88 Mihaylov D. L. 43 Mikhaylov K. 1353 Mishra A. N. 96 Miśkowiec D. 14 Modak A. 44 Mohammadi N. 6 Mohanty A. P. 58 Mohanty B. 98 Khan M. Mohisin 10151 Moravcova Z. 56 Mordasini C. 43 Moreira De Godoy D. A. 29 Moreno L. A. P. 84 Morozov I. 105 Morsch A. 6 Mrnjavac T. 6 Muccifora V. 66 Mudnic E. 113 Mühlheim D. 29 Muhuri S. 1 Mulligan J. D. 34 Mulliri A. 7186 Munhoz M. G. 74 Munzer R. H. 26 Murakami H. 115 Murray S. 90 Musa L. alice-publications@cern.ch 6 Musinsky J. 121 Myers C. J. 23 Myrcha J. W. 97 Naik B. 54 Nair R. 102 Nandi B. K. 54 Nania R. 89 Nappi E. 91 Naru M. U. 21 Nassirpour A. F. 4 Nattrass C. 63 Nayak R. 54 Nayak T. K. 98 Nazarenko S. 77 Neagu A. 36 Negrao De Oliveira R. A. 26 Nellen L. 96 Nesbo S. V. 117 Neskovic G. 100 Nesterov D. 27 Neumann L. T. 97 Nielsen B. S. 56 Nikolaev S. 17 Nikulin S. 17 Nikulin V. 62 Noferini F. 89 Nomokonov P. 53 Norman J. 5092 Novitzky N. 89 Nowakowski P. 97 Nyanin A. 17 Nystrand J. 25 Ogino M. 116 Ohlson A. 430 Oleniacz J. 97 Da Silva A. C. Oliveira 63 Oliver M. H. 57 Oppedisano C. 18 Velasquez A. Ortiz 96 Oskarsson A. 4 Otwinowski J. 81 Oyama K. 116 Pachmayer Y. 30 Pacik V. 56 Padhan S. 54 Pagano D. 73 Paić G. 96 Pan J. 52 Panebianco S. 41 Pareek P. 1101 Park J. 59 Parkkila J. E. 125 Parmar S. 5 Pathak S. P. 23 Paul B. 71 Pazzini J. 73 Pei H. 19 Peitzmann T. 58 Peng X. 19 Pereira L. G. 112 Da Costa H. Pereira 41 Peresunko D. 17 Perez G. M. 103 Perrin S. 41 Pestov Y. 139 Petráček V. 67 Petrovici M. 28 Pezzi R. P. 112 Piano S. 93 Pikna M. 138 Pillot P. 35 Pinazza O. 69 Pinsky L. 23 Pinto C. 45 Pisano S. 866 Pistone D. 38 Płoskoń M. 34 Planinic M. 106 Pliquett F. 26 Poghosyan M. G. 70 Polichtchouk B. 108 Poljak N. 106 Pop A. 28 Porteboeuf-Houssais S. 49 Pozdniakov V. 53 Prasad S. K. 44 Preghenella R. 9 Prino F. 18 Pruneau C. A. 52 Pshenichnov I. 105 Puccio M. 6 Putschke J. 52 Qiu S. 82 Quaglia L. 46 Quishpe R. E. 23 Ragoni S. 107 Raha S. 44 Rajput S. 40 Rak J. 125 Rakotozafindrabe A. 41 Ramello L. 94 Rami F. 60 Ramirez S. A. R. 84 Raniwala R. 140 Raniwala S. 140 Räsänen S. S. 141 Rath R. 101 Ratza V. 42 Ravasenga I. 82 Read K. F. 6370 Redelbach A. R. 100 Redlich K. 102152 Rehman A. 25 Reichelt P. 26 Reidt F. 6 Ren X. 19 Renfordt R. 26 Rescakova Z. 72 Reygers K. 30 Riabov A. 62 Riabov V. 62 Richert T. 456 Richter M. 36 Riedler P. 6 Riegler W. 6 Riggi F. 45 Ristea C. 64 Rode S. P. 101 Cahuantzi M. Rodríguez 84 Røed K. 36 Rogalev R. 108 Rogochaya E. 53 Rohr D. 6 Röhrich D. 25 Rojas P. F. 84 Rokita P. S. 97 Ronchetti F. 66 Rosano A. 38 Rosas E. D. 96 Roslon K. 97 Rossi A. 3351 Rotondi A. 69 Roy A. 101 Roy P. 87 Rueda O. V. 4 Rui R. 85 Rumyantsev B. 53 Rustamov A. 111 Ryabinkin E. 17 Ryabov Y. 62 Rybicki A. 81 Rytkonen H. 125 Saarimaki O. A. M. 141 Sadek R. 35 Sadhu S. 1 Sadovsky S. 108 Šafařík K. 67 Saha S. K. 1 Sahoo B. 54 Sahoo P. 54 Sahoo R. 101 Sahoo S. 142 Sahu P. K. 142 Saini J. 1 Sakai S. 89 Sambyal S. 40 Samsonov V. 6162 Sarkar D. 52 Sarkar N. 1 Sarma P. 65 Sarti V. M. 43 Sas M. H. P. 58 Scapparone E. 9 Schambach J. 68 Scheid H. S. 26 Schiaua C. 28 Schicker R. 30 Schmah A. 30 Schmidt C. 14 Schmidt H. R. 143 Schmidt M. O. 30 Schmidt M. 143 Schmidt N. V. 2670 Schmier A. R. 63 Schukraft J. 56 Schutz Y. 60 Schwarz K. 14 Schweda K. 14 Scioli G. 22 Scomparin E. 18 Seger J. 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P. 74 Sugitate T. 144 Suire C. 37 Suleymanov M. 21 Suljic M. 6 Sultanov R. 13 Šumbera M. 2 Sumberia V. 40 Sumowidagdo S. 12 Swain S. 142 Szabo A. 138 Szarka I. 138 Tabassam U. 21 Taghavi S. F. 43 Taillepied G. 49 Takahashi J. 16 Tambave G. J. 25 Tang S. 1949 Tarhini M. 35 Tarzila M. G. 28 Tauro A. 6 Muñoz G. Tejeda 84 Telesca A. 6 Terlizzi L. 46 Terrevoli C. 23 Thakur D. 101 Thakur S. 1 Thomas D. 68 Thoresen F. 56 Tieulent R. 88 Tikhonov A. 105 Timmins A. R. 23 Toia A. 26 Topilskaya N. 105 Toppi M. 66 Torales-Acosta F. 104 Torres S. R. 67 Trifiró A. 38133 Tripathy S. 96101 Tripathy T. 54 Trogolo S. 51 Trombetta G. 75 Tropp L. 72 Trubnikov V. 24 Trzaska W. H. 125 Trzcinski T. P. 97 Trzeciak B. A. 5867 Tumkin A. 77 Turrisi R. 33 Tveter T. S. 36 Ullaland K. 25 Umaka E. N. 23 Uras A. 88 Usai G. L. 71 Vala M. 72 Valle N. 69 Vallero S. 18 van der Kolk N. 58 van Doremalen L. V. R. 58 van Leeuwen M. 58 Vyvre P. Vande 6 Varga D. 47 Varga Z. 47 Varga-Kofarago M. 47 Vargas A. 84 Vasileiou M. 109 Vasiliev A. 17 Doce O. Vázquez 43 Vechernin V. 27 Vercellin E. 46 Limón S. Vergara 84 Vermunt L. 58 Vernet R. 146 Vértesi R. 47 Vickovic L. 113 Vilakazi Z. 80 Baillie O. Villalobos 107 Vino G. 91 Vinogradov A. 17 Virgili T. 99 Vislavicius V. 56 Vodopyanov A. 53 Volkel B. 6 Völkl M. A. 143 Voloshin K. 13 Voloshin S. A. 52 Volpe G. 75 von Haller B. 6 Vorobyev I. 43 Voscek D. 120 Vrláková J. 72 Wagner B. 25 Weber M. 78 Weber S. G. 29 Wegrzynek A. 6 Wenzel S. C. 6 Wessels J. P. 29 Wiechula J. 26 Wikne J. 36 Wilk G. 102 Wilkinson J. 89 Willems G. A. 29 Willsher E. 107 Windelband B. 30 Winn M. 41 Witt W. E. 63 Wright J. R. 68 Wu Y. 147 Xu R. 19 Yalcin S. 122 Yamaguchi Y. 144 Yamakawa K. 144 Yang S. 25 Yano S. 41 Yin Z. 19 Yokoyama H. 58 Yoo I.-K. 127 Yoon J. H. 59 Yuan S. 25 Yuncu A. 30 Yurchenko V. 24 Zaccolo V. 85 Zaman A. 21 Zampolli C. 6 Zanoli H. J. C. 58 Zardoshti N. 6 Zarochentsev A. 27 Závada P. 134 Zaviyalov N. 77 Zbroszczyk H. 97 Zhalov M. 62 Zhang S. 15 Zhang X. 19 Zhang Z. 19 Zherebchevskii V. 27 Zhi Y. 132 Zhou D. 19 Zhou Y. 56 Zhou Z. 25 Zhu J. 1419 Zhu Y. 19 Zichichi A. 822 Zinovjev G. 24 Zurlo N. 73 alice-publications@cern.ch 1 1 grid.450257.10000 0004 1775 9822Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Kolkata, India 2 Nuclear Physics Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Řež, Czech Republic 3 grid.7839.50000 0004 1936 9721Institut für Informatik, Fachbereich Informatik und Mathematik, Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe Universität Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany 4 grid.4514.40000 0001 0930 2361Division of Particle Physics, Department of Physics, Lund University, Lund, Sweden 5 grid.261674.00000 0001 2174 5640Physics Department, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India 6 grid.9132.90000 0001 2156 142XEuropean Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Geneva, Switzerland 7 grid.470222.1Dipartimento DISAT del Politecnico and Sezione INFN, Turin, Italy 8 grid.449962.4Centro Fermi – Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro Studi e Ricerche “Enrico Fermi”, Rome, Italy 9 grid.470193.8INFN, Sezione di Bologna, Bologna, Italy 10 grid.411340.30000 0004 1937 0765Department of Physics, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India 11 grid.249964.40000 0001 0523 5253Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information, Daejeon, Republic of Korea 12 grid.249566.a0000 0004 0644 6054Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Jakarta, Indonesia 13 grid.18919.380000000406204151NRC «Kurchatov» Institute – ITEP, Moscow, Russia 14 grid.159791.20000 0000 9127 4365Research Division and ExtreMe Matter Institute EMMI, GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, Darmstadt, Germany 15 grid.8547.e0000 0001 0125 2443Fudan University, Shanghai, China 16 grid.411087.b0000 0001 0723 2494Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil 17 grid.18919.380000000406204151National Research Centre Kurchatov 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grid.443874.80000 0000 9463 5349Horia Hulubei National Institute of Physics and Nuclear Engineering, Bucharest, Romania 29 grid.5949.10000 0001 2172 9288Westfälische Wilhelms – Universität Münster, Institut für Kernphysik, Münster, Germany 30 grid.7700.00000 0001 2190 4373Physikalisches Institut, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany 31 grid.254748.80000 0004 1936 8876Creighton University, Omaha, NB USA 32 grid.4905.80000 0004 0635 7705Rudjer Bošković Institute, Zagreb, Croatia 33 grid.470212.2INFN, Sezione di Padova, Padova, Italy 34 grid.184769.50000 0001 2231 4551Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA USA 35 grid.463940.c0000 0001 0475 7658SUBATECH, IMT Atlantique, Université de Nantes, CNRS-IN2P3, Nantes, France 36 grid.5510.10000 0004 1936 8921Department of Physics, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway 37 grid.508754.bLaboratoire de Physique des 2 Infinis, Irène Joliot-Curie, Orsay, France 38 grid.470198.30000 0004 1755 400XINFN, Sezione di Catania, Catania, Italy 39 grid.411733.30000 0004 0532 811XGangneung-Wonju National University, Gangneung, Republic of Korea 40 grid.412986.00000 0001 0705 4560Physics Department, University of Jammu, Jammu, India 41 grid.457342.3Départment de Physique Nucléaire (DPhN), Université Paris-Saclay Centre d’Etudes de Saclay (CEA), IRFU, Saclay, France 42 grid.10388.320000 0001 2240 3300Helmholtz-Institut für Strahlen- und Kernphysik, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Bonn, Germany 43 grid.6936.a0000000123222966Physik Department, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany 44 grid.418423.80000 0004 1768 2239Bose Institute, Department of Physics and Centre for Astroparticle Physics and Space Science (CAPSS), Kolkata, India 45 grid.470198.30000 0004 1755 400XDipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia dell’Università degli Studi di Catania and Sezione INFN, Catania, Italy 46 grid.470222.1Dipartimento di Fisica dell’Università degli studi di Torino and Sezione INFN, Turin, Italy 47 grid.419766.b0000 0004 1759 8344Wigner Research Centre for Physics, Budapest, Hungary 48 grid.482271.a0000 0001 0727 2226Nuclear Physics Group, STFC Daresbury Laboratory, Daresbury, UK 49 grid.494717.80000000115480420Université Clermont Auvergne, CNRS/IN2P3, LPC, Clermont-Ferrand, France 50 grid.10025.360000 0004 1936 8470University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK 51 grid.5608.b0000 0004 1757 3470Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia dell’Università degli Studi di Padova and Sezione INFN, Padua, Italy 52 grid.254444.70000 0001 1456 7807Wayne State University, Detroit, MI USA 53 grid.33762.330000000406204119Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR), Dubna, Russia 54 grid.417971.d0000 0001 2198 7527Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT), Mumbai, India 55 grid.440592.e0000 0001 2288 3308Sección Fsica, Departamento de Ciencias, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Lima, Peru 56 grid.5254.60000 0001 0674 042XNiels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark 57 grid.47100.320000000419368710Yale University, New Haven, CT USA 58 grid.5477.10000000120346234Institute for Subatomic Physics, Utrecht University/Nikhef, Utrecht, Netherlands 59 grid.202119.90000 0001 2364 8385Inha University, Incheon, Republic of Korea 60 grid.11843.3f0000 0001 2157 9291Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, IPHC UMR 7178 Strasbourg, France 61 grid.183446.c0000 0000 8868 5198NRNU Moscow Engineering Physics Institute, Moscow, Russia 62 grid.430219.d0000 0004 0619 3376Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute, Gatchina, Russia 63 grid.411461.70000 0001 2315 1184University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN USA 64 grid.450283.8Institute of Space Science (ISS), Bucharest, Romania 65 grid.411779.d0000 0001 2109 4622Gauhati University, Department of Physics, Guwahati, India 66 grid.463190.90000 0004 0648 0236INFN, Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, Frascati, Italy 67 grid.6652.70000000121738213Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic 68 grid.89336.370000 0004 1936 9924The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX USA 69 grid.8982.b0000 0004 1762 5736Università degli Studi di Pavia, Pavia, Italy 70 grid.135519.a0000 0004 0446 2659Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN USA 71 Dipartimento di Fisica dell’Università degli studi di Cagliari and Sezione INFN, Cagliari, Italy 72 grid.11175.330000 0004 0576 0391Faculty of Science, P.J. Šafárik University, Košice, Slovakia 73 grid.7637.50000000417571846Università di Brescia, Brescia, Italy 74 grid.11899.380000 0004 1937 0722Universidade de São Paulo (USP), São Paulo, Brazil 75 grid.7644.10000 0001 0120 3326Dipartimento Interateneo di Fisica ‘M. Merlin’, Università degli studi di Bari Aldo Moro and Sezione INFN, Bari, Italy 76 grid.4466.00000 0001 0578 5482Politecnico di Bari, Bari, Italy 77 grid.426132.00000 0004 0471 5062Russian Federal Nuclear Center (VNIIEF), Sarov, Russia 78 grid.475784.d0000 0000 9532 5705Stefan Meyer Institut für Subatomare Physik (SMI), Vienna, Austria 79 grid.462638.d0000 0001 0696 719XiThemba LABS, National Research Foundation, Somerset West, South Africa 80 grid.11951.3d0000 0004 1937 1135University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa 81 grid.413454.30000 0001 1958 0162The Henryk Niewodniczanski Institute of Nuclear Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Krakow, Poland 82 grid.420012.50000 0004 0646 2193Nikhef, National Institute for Subatomic Physics, Amsterdam, Netherlands 83 grid.412863.a0000 0001 2192 9271Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa, Culiacán, Mexico 84 grid.411659.e0000 0001 2112 2750High Energy Physics Group, Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Puebla, Mexico 85 grid.470223.00000 0004 1760 7175Dipartimento di Fisica dell’Università degli studi di Trieste and Sezione INFN, Trieste, Italy 86 grid.470195.eINFN, Sezione di Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy 87 grid.450257.10000 0004 1775 9822Institute of Nuclear Physics, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Kolkata, India 88 grid.25697.3f0000 0001 2172 4233Université de Lyon, Université Lyon 1, CNRS/IN2P3, IPN-Lyon, Lyon, France 89 grid.20515.330000 0001 2369 4728University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan 90 grid.7836.a0000 0004 1937 1151University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa 91 grid.470190.bINFN, Sezione di Bari, Bari, Italy 92 grid.472561.30000 0001 2295 5578Laboratoire de Physique Subatomique et de Cosmologie, Université Grenoble-Alpes, CNRS-IN2P3, Grenoble, France 93 grid.470223.00000 0004 1760 7175INFN, Sezione di Trieste, Trieste, Italy 94 Dipartimento di Scienze e Innovazione Tecnologica dell’Università del Piemonte Orientale and INFN Sezione di Torino, Alessandria, Italy 95 grid.412368.a0000 0004 0643 8839Universidade Federal do ABC, Santo Andre, Brazil 96 grid.9486.30000 0001 2159 0001Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico 97 grid.1035.70000000099214842Warsaw University of Technology, Warsaw, Poland 98 grid.450257.10000 0004 1775 9822National Institute of Science Education and Research, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Jatni, India 99 Dipartimento di Fisica ‘E.R. Caianiello’ dell’Università and Gruppo Collegato INFN, Salerno, Italy 100 grid.7839.50000 0004 1936 9721Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany 101 grid.450280.b0000 0004 1769 7721Indian Institute of Technology Indore, Indore, India 102 grid.450295.f0000 0001 0941 0848National Centre for Nuclear Research, Warsaw, Poland 103 grid.450274.00000 0004 0498 8482Centro de Aplicaciones Tecnológicas y Desarrollo Nuclear (CEADEN), Havana, Cuba 104 grid.47840.3f0000 0001 2181 7878Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, CA USA 105 grid.4886.20000 0001 2192 9124Institute for Nuclear Research, Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia 106 grid.4808.40000 0001 0657 4636Physics Department, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia 107 grid.6572.60000 0004 1936 7486School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK 108 grid.18919.380000000406204151NRC Kurchatov Institute IHEP, Protvino, Russia 109 grid.5216.00000 0001 2155 0800Department of Physics, School of Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece 110 grid.254130.10000 0001 2222 4636Chicago State University, Chicago, IL USA 111 National Nuclear Research Center, Baku, Azerbaijan 112 grid.8532.c0000 0001 2200 7498Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil 113 grid.38603.3e0000 0004 0644 1675Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, University of Split, Split, Croatia 114 grid.48507.3e0000 0004 0482 7128A.I. Alikhanyan National Science Laboratory (Yerevan Physics Institute) Foundation, Yerevan, Armenia 115 grid.26999.3d0000 0001 2151 536XUniversity of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan 116 grid.444367.60000 0000 9853 5396Nagasaki Institute of Applied Science, Nagasaki, Japan 117 grid.477239.cFaculty of Engineering and Science, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Bergen, Norway 118 grid.418275.d0000 0001 2165 8782Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados (CINVESTAV), Mexico City, Mexico 119 grid.261331.40000 0001 2285 7943Ohio State University, Columbus, OH USA 120 grid.6903.c0000 0001 2235 0982Technical University of Košice, Košice, Slovakia 121 grid.419303.c0000 0001 2180 9405Institute of Experimental Physics, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Košice, Slovakia 122 grid.440457.60000 0004 0471 9645KTO Karatay University, Konya, Turkey 123 grid.440515.10000 0000 9661 2810Zentrum für Technologietransfer und Telekommunikation (ZTT), Hochschule Worms, Worms, Germany 124 grid.15444.300000 0004 0470 5454Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea 125 grid.9681.60000 0001 1013 7965University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland 126 grid.411545.00000 0004 0470 4320Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju, Republic of Korea 127 grid.262229.f0000 0001 0719 8572Department of Physics, Pusan National University, Pusan, Republic of Korea 128 grid.263333.40000 0001 0727 6358Department of Physics, Sejong University, Seoul, Republic of Korea 129 grid.253547.2000000012222461XCalifornia Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA USA 130 grid.6357.70000 0001 0739 3220Suranaree University of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand 131 grid.463530.70000 0004 7417 509XUniversity of South-Eastern Norway, Tonsberg, Norway 132 grid.410655.30000 0001 0157 8259China Institute of Atomic Energy, Beijing, China 133 grid.10438.3e0000 0001 2178 8421Dipartimento di Scienze MIFT, Università di Messina, Messina, Italy 134 grid.424881.30000 0004 0634 148XInstitute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic 135 grid.10796.390000000121049995Università degli Studi di Foggia, Foggia, Italy 136 grid.6045.70000 0004 1757 5281INFN, Sezione di Roma, Rome, Italy 137 grid.6045.70000 0004 1757 5281Dipartimento di Fisica dell’Università ‘La Sapienza’ and Sezione INFN, Rome, Italy 138 grid.7634.60000000109409708Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics, Comenius University Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia 139 grid.418495.5Budker Institute for Nuclear Physics, Novosibirsk, Russia 140 grid.412746.20000 0000 8498 7826Physics Department, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, India 141 grid.470106.40000 0001 1106 2387Helsinki Institute of Physics (HIP), Helsinki, Finland 142 grid.450257.10000 0004 1775 9822Institute of Physics, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Bhubaneswar, India 143 grid.10392.390000 0001 2190 1447Physikalisches Institut, Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany 144 grid.257022.00000 0000 8711 3200Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan 145 grid.174568.90000 0001 0059 3836Nara Women’s University (NWU), Nara, Japan 146 Centre de Calcul de l’IN2P3, Lyon, France 147 grid.59053.3a0000000121679639University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China 148 grid.5196.b0000 0000 9864 2490Present Address: Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA), Bologna, Italy 149 grid.4800.c0000 0004 1937 0343Present Address: Dipartimento DET, Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy 150 grid.14476.300000 0001 2342 9668Present Address: D.V. Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia 151 grid.411340.30000 0004 1937 0765Present Address: Department of Applied Physics, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India 152 grid.8505.80000 0001 1010 5103Present Address: Institute of Theoretical Physics, University of Wrocław, Wrocław, Poland 9 12 2020 9 12 2020 2020 588 7837 232 238 3 6 2020 20 10 2020 © The Author(s) 2020Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.One of the key challenges for nuclear physics today is to understand from first principles the effective interaction between hadrons with different quark content. First successes have been achieved using techniques that solve the dynamics of quarks and gluons on discrete space-time lattices1,2. Experimentally, the dynamics of the strong interaction have been studied by scattering hadrons off each other. Such scattering experiments are difficult or impossible for unstable hadrons3–6 and so high-quality measurements exist only for hadrons containing up and down quarks7. Here we demonstrate that measuring correlations in the momentum space between hadron pairs8–12 produced in ultrarelativistic proton–proton collisions at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) provides a precise method with which to obtain the missing information on the interaction dynamics between any pair of unstable hadrons. Specifically, we discuss the case of the interaction of baryons containing strange quarks (hyperons). We demonstrate how, using precision measurements of proton–omega baryon correlations, the effect of the strong interaction for this hadron–hadron pair can be studied with precision similar to, and compared with, predictions from lattice calculations13,14. The large number of hyperons identified in proton–proton collisions at the LHC, together with accurate modelling15 of the small (approximately one femtometre) inter-particle distance and exact predictions for the correlation functions, enables a detailed determination of the short-range part of the nucleon-hyperon interaction. Correlations in momentum space between hadrons created by ultrarelativistic proton–proton collisions at the CERN Large Hadron Collider provide insights into the strong interaction, particularly the short-range dynamics of hyperons—baryons that contain strange quarks. Subject terms Experimental nuclear physicsExperimental particle physicsissue-copyright-statement© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited 2020 ==== Body Baryons are composite objects formed by three valence quarks bound together by means of the strong interaction mediated through the emission and absorption of gluons. Between baryons, the strong interaction leads to a residual force and the most common example is the effective strong force among nucleons (N)—baryons composed of up (u) and down (d) quarks: proton (p) = uud and neutron (n) = ddu. This force is responsible for the existence of a neutron–proton bound state, the deuteron, and manifests itself in scattering experiments7 and through the existence of atomic nuclei. So far, our understanding of the nucleon–nucleon strong interaction relies heavily on effective theories16, where the degrees of freedom are nucleons. These effective theories are constrained by scattering measurements and are successfully used in the description of nuclear properties17,18. The fundamental theory of the strong interaction is quantum chromodynamics (QCD), in which quarks and gluons are the degrees of freedom. One of the current challenges in nuclear physics is to calculate the strong interaction among hadrons starting from first principles. Perturbative techniques are used to calculate strong-interaction phenomena in high-energy collisions with a level of precision of a few per cent19. For baryon–baryon interactions at low energy such techniques cannot be employed; however, numerical solutions on a finite space-time lattice have been used to calculate scattering parameters among nucleons and the properties of light nuclei1,2. Such approaches are still limited: they do not yet reproduce the properties of the deuteron20 and do not predict physical values for the masses of light hadrons21. Baryons containing strange (s) quarks, exclusively or combined with u and d quarks, are called hyperons (Y) and are denoted by uppercase Greek letters: Λ = uds, Σ0 = uds, Ξ− = dss, Ω− = sss. Experimentally, little is known about Y–N and Y–Y interactions, but recently, major steps forward in their understanding have been made using lattice QCD approaches13,14,22. The predictions available for hyperons are characterized by smaller uncertainties because the lattice calculation becomes more stable for quarks with larger mass, such as the s quark. In particular, robust results are obtained for interactions involving the heaviest hyperons, such as Ξ and Ω, and precise measurements of the p–Ξ− and p–Ω− interactions are instrumental in validating these calculations. From an experimental point of view, the existence of nuclei in which a nucleon is replaced by a hyperon (hypernuclei) demonstrates the presence of an attractive strong Λ–N interaction23 and indicates the possibility of binding a Ξ− to a nucleus24,25. A direct and more precise measurement of the Y–N interaction requires scattering experiments, which are particularly challenging to perform because hyperons are short-lived and travel only a few centimetres before decaying. Previous experiments with Λ and Σ hyperons on proton targets3–5 delivered results that were two orders of magnitude less precise than those for nucleons, and such experiments with Ξ (ref. 6) and Ω beams are even more challenging. The measurement of the Y–N and Y–Y interactions has further important implications for the possible formation of a Y–N or Y–Y bound state. Although numerous theoretical predictions exist13,26–30, so far no clear evidence for any such bound states has been found, despite many experimental searches31–35. Additionally, a precise knowledge of the Y–N and Y–Y interactions has important consequences for the physics of neutron stars. Indeed, the structure of the innermost core of neutron stars is still completely unknown and hyperons could appear in such environments depending on the Y–N and Y–Y interactions36. Real progress in this area calls for new experimental methods. Studies of the Y–N interaction via correlations have been pioneered by the HADES collaboration37. Recently, the ALICE Collaboration has demonstrated that p–p and p–Pb collisions at the LHC are best suited to study the N–N and several Y–N, Y–Y interactions precisely8–12. Indeed, the collision energy and rate available at the LHC opens the phase space for an abundant production of any strange hadron38, and the capabilities of the ALICE detector for particle identification and the momentum resolution—with values below 1% for transverse momentum pT < 1 GeV/c—facilitate the investigation of correlations in momentum space. These correlations reflect the properties of the interaction and hence can be used to test theoretical predictions by solving the Schrödinger equation for proton–hyperon collisions39. A fundamental advantage of p–p and p–Pb collisions at LHC energies is the fact that all hadrons originate from very small space-time volumes, with typical inter-hadron distances of about 1 fm. These small distances are linked through the uncertainty principle to a large range of the relative momentum (up to 200 MeV/c) for the baryon pair and enable us to test short-range interactions. Additionally, detailed modelling of a common source for all produced baryons15 allow us to determine accurately the source parameters. Similar studies were carried out in ultrarelativistic Au–Au collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 200 GeV per nucleon pair by the STAR collaboration for Λ–Λ40,41 and p–Ω−42 interactions. This collision system leads to comparatively large particle emitting sources of 3–5 fm. The resulting relative momentum range is below 40 MeV/c, implying reduced sensitivity to interactions at distances shorter than 1 fm. In this work, we present a precision study of the most exotic among the proton–hyperon interactions, obtained via the p–Ω− correlation function in p–p collisions at a centre-of-mass energy s=13TeV at the LHC. The comparison of the measured correlation function with first-principle calculations13 and with a new precision measurement of the p–Ξ− correlation in the same collision system provides the first observation of the effect of the strong interaction for the p–Ω− pair. The implications of the measured correlations for a possible p–Ω− bound state are also discussed. These experimental results challenge the interpretation of the data in terms of lattice QCD as the precision of the data improves. Our measurement opens a new chapter for experimental methods in hadron physics with the potential to pin down the strong interaction for all known proton–hyperon pairs. Analysis of the correlation function Figure 1 shows a schematic representation of the correlation method used in this analysis. The correlation function can be expressed theoretically43,44 as C(k*) = ∫d3r*S(r*) × |ψ(k*, r*)|2, where k* and r* are the relative momentum and relative distance of the pair of interest. S(r*) is the distribution of the distance r* = |r*| at which particles are emitted (defining the source size), ψ(k*, r*) represents the wavefunction of the relative motion for the pair of interest and k* = |k*| is the reduced relative momentum of the pair (k⁎=|p2⁎−p1⁎|/2). Given an interaction potential between two hadrons as a function of their relative distance, a non-relativistic Schrödinger equation can be used39 to obtain the corresponding wavefunction and hence also predict the expected correlation function. The choice of a non-relativistic Schrödinger equation is motivated by the fact that the typical relative momenta relevant for the strong final-state interaction have a maximal value of 200 MeV/c. Experimentally, this correlation function is computed as C(k*) = ξ(k*)[Nsame(k*)/Nmixed(k*)], where ξ(k*) denotes the corrections for experimental effects, Nsame(k*) is the number of pairs with a given k* obtained by combining particles produced in the same collision (event), which constitute a sample of correlated pairs, and Nmixed(k*) is the number of uncorrelated pairs with the same k*, obtained by combining particles produced in different collisions (the so-called mixed-event technique). Figure 1d shows how an attractive or repulsive interaction is mapped into the correlation function. For an attractive interaction the magnitude of the correlation function will be above unity for small values of k*, whereas for a repulsive interaction it will be between zero and unity. In the former case, the presence of a bound state would create a depletion of the correlation function with a depth increasing with increasing binding energy.Fig. 1 Schematic representation of the correlation method. a, A collision of two protons generates a particle source S(r*) from which a hadron–hadron pair with momenta p1 and p2 emerges at a relative distance r* and can undergo a final-state interaction before being detected. Consequently, the relative momentum k* is either reduced or increased via an attractive or a repulsive interaction, respectively. b, Example of attractive (green) and repulsive (dotted red) interaction potentials, V(r*), between two hadrons, as a function of their relative distance. Given a certain potential, a non-relativistic Schrödinger equation is used to obtain the corresponding two-particle wavefunction, ψ(k*, r*). c, The equation of the calculated (second term) and measured (third term) correlation function C(k*), where Nsame(k*) and Nmixed(k*) represent the k* distributions of hadron–hadron pairs produced in the same and in different collisions, respectively, and ξ(k*) denotes the corrections for experimental effects. d, Sketch of the resulting shape of C(k*). The value of the correlation function is proportional to the interaction strength. It is above unity for an attractive (green) potential, and between zero and unity for a repulsive (dotted red) potential. Correlations can occur in nature from quantum mechanical interference, resonances, conservation laws or final-state interactions. Here, it is the final-state interactions that contribute predominantly at low relative momentum; in this work we focus on the strong and Coulomb interactions in pairs composed of a proton and either a Ξ− or a Ω− hyperon. Protons do not decay and can hence be directly identified within the ALICE detector, but Ξ− and Ω− baryons are detected through their weak decays, Ξ− → Λ + π− and Ω− → Λ + Κ−. The identification and momentum measurement of protons, Ξ−, Ω− and their respective antiparticles are described in Methods. Figure 2 shows a sketch of the Ω− decay and the invariant mass distribution of the ΛΚ− and Λ¯K+ pairs. The clear peak corresponding to the rare Ω− and Ω¯+ baryons demonstrates the excellent identification capability, which is the key ingredient for this measurement. The contamination from misidentification is ≤5%. For the Ξ− (Ξ¯+) baryon the misidentification amounts to 8%11.Fig. 2 Reconstruction of the Ω− and Ω¯+ signals. Sketch of the weak decay of Ω− into a Λ and a Κ−, and measured invariant mass distribution (blue points) of ΛΚ− and Λ¯K+ combinations. The dotted red line represents the fit to the data including signal and background, and the black dotted line the background alone. The contamination from misidentification is ≤5%. Once the p, Ω− and Ξ− candidates and charge conjugates are selected and their 3-momenta measured, the correlation functions can be built. Since we assume that the same interaction governs baryon–baryon and antibaryon–antibaryon pairs8, we consider in the following the direct sum (⊕) of particles and antiparticles (p–Ξ−⊕p¯–Ξ¯+≡p–Ξ− and p–Ω−⊕p¯–Ω¯+≡p–Ω−). The determination of the correction ξ(k*) and the evaluation of the systematic uncertainties are described in Methods. Comparison of the p–Ξ− and p–Ω− interactions The obtained correlation functions are shown in Fig. 3a, b for the p–Ξ− and p–Ω− pairs, respectively, along with the statistical and systematic uncertainties. The fact that both correlations are well above unity implies the presence of an attractive interaction for both systems. For opposite-charge pairs, as considered here, the Coulomb interaction is attractive and its effect on the correlation function is illustrated by the green curves in both panels of Fig. 3. These curves have been obtained by solving the Schrödinger equation for p–Ξ− and p–Ω− pairs using the Correlation Analysis Tool using the Schrödinger equation (CATS) equation solver39, considering only the Coulomb interaction and assuming that the shape of the source follows a Gaussian distribution with a width equal to 1.02 ± 0.05 fm for the p–Ξ− system and to 0.95 ± 0.06 fm for the p–Ω− system, respectively. The source-size values have been determined via an independent analysis of p–p correlations15, where modifications of the source distribution due to strong decays of short-lived resonances are taken into account, and the source size is determined as a function of the transverse mass mT of the pair, as described in Methods. The average mT of the p–Ξ− and p–Ω− pairs are 1.9 GeV/c and 2.2 GeV/c, respectively. The difference in size between the source of the p–Ξ− and p–Ω− pairs might reflect the contribution of collective effects such as (an)isotropic flow. The width of the green curves in Fig. 3 reflects the quoted uncertainty of the measured source radius. The correlations obtained, accounting only for the Coulomb interaction, considerably underestimate the strength of both measured correlations. This implies, in both cases, that an attractive interaction exists and exceeds the strength of the Coulomb interaction.Fig. 3 Experimental p–Ξ− and p–Ω− correlation functions. a, b, Measured p–Ξ− (a) and p–Ω− (b) correlation functions in high multiplicity p–p collisions at s=13TeV . The experimental data are shown as black symbols. The black vertical bars and the grey boxes represent the statistical and systematic uncertainties. The square brackets show the bin width and the horizontal black lines represent the statistical uncertainty in the determination of the mean k* for each bin. The measurements are compared with theoretical predictions, shown as coloured bands, that assume either Coulomb or Coulomb + strong HAL QCD interactions. For the p–Ω− system the orange band represents the prediction considering only the elastic contributions and the blue band represents the prediction considering both elastic and inelastic contributions. The width of the curves including HAL QCD predictions represents the uncertainty associated with the calculation (see Methods section ‘Corrections of the correlation function’ for details) and the grey shaded band represents, in addition, the uncertainties associated with the determination of the source radius. The width of the Coulomb curves represents only the uncertainty associated with the source radius. The considered radius values are 1.02 ± 0.05 fm for p–Ξ− and 0.95 ± 0.06 fm for p–Ω− pairs, respectively. The inset in b shows an expanded view of the p–Ω− correlation function for C(k*) close to unity. For more details see text. To discuss the comparison of the experimental data with the predictions from lattice QCD, it is useful to first focus on the distinct characteristics of the p–Ξ− and p–Ω− interactions. Figure 4 shows the radial shapes obtained for the strong-interaction potentials calculated from first principles by the HAL QCD (Hadrons to Atomic nuclei from Lattice QCD) collaboration for the p–Ξ− (ref. 14) and the p–Ω− systems13, see Methods for details. Only the most attractive (isospin I = 0 and spin S = 0) of the four components14 of the p–Ξ− interaction and the isospin I = 1/2 and spin S = 2 component of the p–Ω− interaction are shown. Aside from an attractive component, we see that the interaction contains also a repulsive core starting at very small distances, below 0.2 fm. For the p–Ω− system no repulsive core is visible and the interaction is purely attractive. This very attractive interaction can accommodate a p–Ω− bound state, with a binding energy of about 2.5 MeV, considering the Coulomb and strong forces13. The p–Ξ− and p–Ω− interaction potentials look very similar to each other above a distance of 1 fm. This behaviour is not observed in phenomenological models that engage the exchange of heavy mesons and predict a quicker fall off of the potentials45.Fig. 4 Potentials for the p–Ξ− and p–Ω− interactions. p–Ξ− (pink) and p–Ω− (orange) interaction potentials as a function of the pair distance predicted by the HAL QCD collaboration13,14. Only the most attractive component, isospin I = 0 and spin S = 0, is shown for p–Ξ−. For the p–Ω− interaction the I = 1/2 and spin S = 2 component is shown. The widths of the curves correspond to the uncertainties (see Methods section ‘Corrections of the correlation function’ for details) associated with the calculations. The inset shows the correlation functions obtained using the HAL QCD strong interaction potentials for: (i) the channel p–Ξ− with isospin I = 0 and spin S = 0, (ii) the channel p–Ξ− including all allowed spin and isospin combinations (dashed pink), and (iii) the channel p–Ω− with isospin I = 1/2 and spin S = 2. For details see text. The inset of Fig. 4 shows the correlation functions obtained using the HAL QCD strong interaction potentials for: (i) the channel p–Ξ− with isospin I = 0 and spin S = 0, (ii) the channel p–Ξ− including all allowed spin and isospin combinations, and (iii) the channel p–Ω− with isospin I = 1/2 and spin S = 2. The correlation functions are computed using the experimental values for the p–Ξ− and p–Ω− source-size. Despite the fact that the strong p–Ω− potential is more attractive than the p–Ξ− I = 0 and S = 0 potential, the resulting correlation function is lower. This is due to the presence of the bound state in the p–Ω− case46. If we consider all four isospin and spin components of the p–Ξ− interaction11 the prediction for the global p–Ξ− correlation function is lower than that for p–Ω−. Experimentally, as shown in Fig. 3, the less attractive strong p–Ξ− interaction translates into a correlation function that reaches values of 3 in comparison with the much higher values of up to 6 that are visible for the p–Ω− correlation. The theoretical predictions shown in Fig. 3 also include the effect of the Coulomb interaction. Regarding the p–Ξ− interaction, it should be considered that strangeness-rearrangement processes can occur, such as pΞ− → ΛΛ, ΣΣ, ΛΣ. This means that the inverse processes (for example, ΛΛ → pΞ−) can also occur and modify the p–Ξ− correlation function. These contributions are accounted for within lattice calculations by exploiting the well known quark symmetries14 and are found to be very small. Moreover, the ALICE collaboration measured the Λ–Λ correlation in p–p and p–Pb collisions10 and good agreement with the shallow interaction predicted by the HAL QCD collaboration was found. The resulting prediction for the correlation function, obtained by solving the Schrödinger equation for the single p–Ξ− channel including the HAL QCD strong and Coulomb interactions, is shown in Fig. 3a. The first measurement of the p–Ξ− interaction using p–Pb collisions11 showed a qualitative agreement to lattice QCD predictions. The improved precision of the data in the current analysis of p–p collisions is also in agreement with calculations that include both the HAL QCD and Coulomb interactions. Detailed study of the p–Ω− correlation Concerning the p–Ω− interaction, strangeness-rearrangement processes can also occur47, such as pΩ− → ΞΛ, ΞΣ. Such processes might affect the p–Ω− interaction in a different way depending on the relative orientation of the total spin and angular momentum of the pair. Since the proton has Jp = 1/2 and the Ω has JΩ = 3/2 and the orbital angular momentum L can be neglected for correlation studies that imply low relative momentum, the total angular momentum J equals the total spin S and can take on values of J = 2 or J = 1. The J = 2 state cannot couple to the strangeness-rearrangement processes discussed above, except through D-wave processes, which are strongly suppressed. For the J = 1 state only two limiting cases can be discussed in the absence of measurements of the pΩ− → ΞΛ, ΞΣ cross-sections. The first case assumes that the effect of the inelastic channels is negligible for both configurations and that the radial behaviour of the interaction is driven by elastic processes, following the lattice QCD potential (see Fig. 4), for both the J = 2 and J = 1 channels. This results in a prediction, shown by the orange curve in Fig. 3b, that is close to the data in the low k* region. The second limiting case assumes, following a previous prescription47, that the J = 1 configuration is completely dominated by strangeness-rearrangement processes. The obtained correlation function is shown by the blue curve Fig. 3b. This curve clearly deviates from the data. Both theoretical calculations also include the effect of the Coulomb interaction and they predict the existence of a p–Ω− bound state with a binding energy of 2.5 MeV, which causes a depletion in the correlation function in the k* region between 100 and 300 MeV/c, because pairs that form a bound state are lost to the correlation yield. The inset of Fig. 3 shows that in this k* region the data are consistent with unity and do not follow either of the two theoretical predictions. At the moment, the lattice QCD predictions underestimate the data, but additional measurements are necessary to draw a firm conclusion on the existence of the bound state. Measurements of Λ–Ξ− and Σ0–Ξ− correlations will verify experimentally the strength of possible non-elastic contributions. Measurements of the p–Ω− correlation function in collision systems with slightly larger size (for example, p–Pb collisions at the LHC)11 will clarify the possible presence of a depletion in C(k*). Indeed, the appearance of a depletion in the correlation function depends on the interplay between the average intra-particle distance (source size) and the scattering length associated with the p–Ω− interaction47. Summary We have shown that the hyperon–proton interaction can be studied in unprecedented detail in p–p collisions at s=13TeV at the LHC. We have demonstrated, in particular, that even the as-yet-unknown p–Ω− interaction can be investigated with excellent precision. The comparison of the measured correlation functions shows that the p–Ω− signal is up to a factor two larger than the p–Ξ− signal. This reflects the large difference in the strong-attractive interaction predicted by the first-principle calculations by the HAL QCD collaboration. The correlation functions predicted by HAL QCD are in agreement with the measurements for the p–Ξ− interaction. For the p–Ω− interaction, the inelastic channels are not yet accounted for quantitatively within the lattice QCD calculations. Additionally, the depletion in the correlation function that is visible in the calculations around k* = 150 MeV/c, owing to the presence of a p–Ω− bound state, is not observed in the measured correlation. To draw quantitative conclusions concerning the existence of a p–Ω− bound state, we plan a direct measurement of the Λ–Ξ− and Σ0−Ξ− correlations and a study of the p–Ω− correlation in p–Pb collisions in the near future. Indeed, with the upgraded ALICE apparatus48 and the increased data sample size expected from the high luminosity phase of the LHC Run 3 and Run 449, the missing interactions involving hyperons will be measured in p–p and p–Pb collisions and this should enable us to answer the question about the existence of a new baryon–baryon bound state. Since this method can be extended to almost any hadron–hadron pair, an unexpected avenue for high-precision tests of the strong interaction at the LHC has been opened. Methods Event selection Events were recorded from inelastic p–p collisions by ALICE50,51 at the LHC. A trigger that requires the total signal amplitude measured in the V0 detector52 to exceed a certain threshold was used to select high-multiplicity (HM) events. The V0 detector comprises two plastic scintillator arrays placed on both sides of the interaction point at pseudorapidities 2.8 < η < 5.1 and −3.7 < η < −1.7. The pseudorapidity is defined as η = −ln[tan(θ/2)], where θ is the polar angle of the particle with respect to the proton beam axis. At s=13TeV, in the HM events, 30 charged particles in the range |η| < 0.5 are produced on average. This η range corresponds to the region within 26 degrees of the transverse plane that is perpendicular to the beam axis. The HM events are rare, constituting 0.17% of the p–p collisions that produce at least one charged particle in the pseudorapidity range |η| < 1.0. It was shown38 that HM events contain an enhanced yield of hyperons, which facilitates this analysis. The yield of Ω− in HM events is at least a factor 5 larger, on average, compared with that in total inelastic collisions53. A total of 1 × 109 HM events were analysed. Additional details on the HM event selection can be found in a previous work12. Particle tracking and identification For the identification and momentum measurement of charged particles, the Inner Tracking System (ITS)54, Time Projection Chamber (TPC)55, and Time-Of-Flight (TOF)56 detectors of ALICE are used. All three detectors are located inside a solenoid magnetic field (0.5 T) leading to a bending of the trajectories of charged particles. The measurement of the curvature is used to reconstruct the particle momenta. Typical transverse momentum (pT) resolutions for protons, pions and kaons vary from about 2% for tracks with pT = 10 GeV/c to below 1% for pT < 1 GeV/c. The particle identity is determined by the energy lost per unit of track length inside the TPC detector and, in some cases, by the particle velocity measured in the TOF detector. Additional experimental details are discussed in a previous work51. Protons are selected within a transverse momentum range of 0.5 < pT < 4.05 GeV/c. They are identified requiring TPC information for candidate tracks with momentum p < 0.75 GeV/c, whereas TPC and TOF information are both required for candidates with p > 0.75 GeV/c. An incorrect identification of primary protons occurs in 1% of the cases, as evaluated by Monte Carlo simulations. Direct tracking and identification is not possible for Ξ− and Ω− hyperons and their antiparticles, because they are unstable and decay as a result of the weak interaction within a few centimetres after their production. The mean decay distances (evaluated as c × τ, where τ is the particle lifetime) of Ξ−(Ξ¯+)→Λ(Λ¯)+π−(π+) and Ω−(Ω¯+)→Λ(Λ¯)+K−(K+) are 4.9 and 2.5 cm, respectively57. Both decays are followed by a second decay of the unstable Λ(Λ¯) hyperon, Λ(Λ¯)→p(p¯)+π−(π+), with an average decay path of 7.9 cm (ref. 57). Consequently, pions (π±), kaons (Κ±) and protons have to be detected and then combined to search for Ξ−(Ξ¯+) and Ω−(Ω¯+) candidates. Those secondary particles are identified by the TPC information in the case of the reconstruction of Ξ−(Ξ¯+), and in the case of Ω−(Ω¯+) it is additionally required that the secondary protons and kaons are identified in the TOF detector. To measure the Ξ−(Ξ¯+) and Ω−(Ω¯+)  hyperons, the two successive weak decays need to be reconstructed. The reconstruction procedure is very similar for both hyperons and is described in detail previously58. Topological selections are performed to reduce the combinatorial background, evaluated via a fit to the invariant mass distribution. Determination of the source size The widths of the Gaussian distributions constituting S(r*), and defining the source size, are calculated on the basis of the results of the analysis of the p–p correlation function in p–p collisions at s=13TeV by the ALICE collaboration15. Assuming a common source for all baryons, its size was studied as a function of the transverse mass of the baryon–baryon pair, mT=(kT2+m2)1/2, where m is the average mass and kT = |pT,1 + pT,2|/2 is the transverse momentum of the pair. The source size decreases with increasing mass, which could reflect the collective evolution of the system. The average transverse mass ⟨mT⟩ for the p–Ξ− and p–Ω− pairs differ and are equal to 1.9 GeV/c and 2.2 GeV/c, respectively. To determine the source sizes for these values, the measurement from p–p correlations (shown in figure 5 of ref. 15) is parameterized as rcore=amTb+c, where rcore denotes the width of the Gaussian distribution defining the source before taking into account the effect produced by short lived resonances. In p–p collisions at s=13TeV, Ξ− and Ω− baryons are produced mostly as primary particles, but about 2/3 of the protons originate from the decay of short-lived resonances with a lifetime of a few fm per c. As a result, the effective source size of both p–Ξ− and p–Ω− is modified. This effect is taken into account by folding the Gaussian source with an exponential distribution following the method outlined previously15. The resulting source distribution can be characterized by an effective Gaussian source radius equal to 1.02 ± 0.05 fm for p–Ξ− pairs and to 0.95 ± 0.06 fm for p–Ω− pairs. The quoted uncertainties correspond to variations of the parametrization of the p–p results according to their systematic and statistical uncertainties. Corrections of the correlation function The correction factor ξ(k*) accounts for the normalization of the k* distribution of pairs from mixed-events, for effects produced by finite momentum resolution and for the influence of residual correlations. The mixed-event distribution, Nmixed(k*), has to be scaled down, because the number of pairs available from mixed events is much higher than the number of pairs produced in the same collision used in Nsame(k*). The normalization parameter N is chosen such that the mean value of the correlation function equals to unity in a region of k* values where the effect of final-state interactions are negligible, 500 < k* < 800 MeV/c. The finite experimental momentum resolution modifies the measured correlation functions at most by 8% at low k*. A correction for this effect is applied. Resolution effects due to the merging of tracks that are very close to each other were evaluated and found to be negligible. The two measured correlation functions are dominated by the contribution of the interaction between p–Ξ− and p–Ω− pairs. Nevertheless, other contributions also influence the measured correlation function. They originate either from incorrectly identified particles or from particles stemming from other weak decays (such as protons from Λ → p + π− decays) combined with primary particles. Because weak decays occur typically some centimetres away from the collision vertex, there is no final-state interaction between their decay products and the primary particles of interest. Hence, the resulting correlation function either will be completely flat or will carry the residual signature of the interaction between the particles before the decay. A method to determine the exact shape and relative yields of the residual correlations has been previously developed8,59, and it is used in this analysis. Such contributions are subtracted from the measured p–Ξ− and p–Ω− correlations to obtain the genuine correlation functions. The residual correlation stemming from misidentification is evaluated experimentally11 and its contribution is also subtracted from the measured correlation function. The systematic uncertainties associated with the genuine correlation function arise from the following sources: (i) the selection of the proton, Ξ−(Ξ¯+) and Ω−(Ω¯+), (ii) the normalization of the mixed-event distributions, (iii) uncertainties on the residual contributions, and (iv) uncertainties due to the finite momentum resolution. To evaluate the associated systematic uncertainties: (i) all single-particle and topological selection criteria are varied with respect to their default values and the analysis is repeated for 50 different random combinations of such selection criteria so that the maximum change introduced in the number of p–Ξ− and p–Ω− pairs is 25% and the changes in the purity of protons, Ξ−(Ξ¯+) and Ω−(Ω¯+) are kept below 3%; (ii) the k*-normalization range of the mixed-events is varied, and a linear function of k* is also used for an alternative normalization which results in an asymmetric uncertainty; (iii) the shape of the residual correlations and its relative contribution are altered; and (iv) the momentum resolution and the used correction method are changed. The total systematic uncertainties associated with the genuine correlation function are maximal at low k*, reaching a value of 9% and 8% for p–Ξ− and p–Ω−, respectively. HAL QCD potentials Results from calculations by the HAL QCD Collaboration for the p–Ξ−14 and p–Ω−13 interactions are shown in Figs. 3, 4. Such interactions were studied via (2 + 1)-flavor lattice QCD simulations with nearly physical quark masses (mπ = 146 MeV/c2). In Fig. 4, the p–Ξ− and p–Ω− potentials are shown for calculations with t/a = 12, with t the Euclidean time and a the lattice spacing of the calculations. The HAL QCD Collaboration provided 23 and 20 sets of parameters for the description of the shape of the p–Ξ− and p–Ω− potentials, respectively. Such parametrizations result from applying the jackknife method, which takes into account the statistical uncertainty of the calculations. The width of the curves in Fig. 4 corresponds to the maximum variations observed in the potential shape by using the different sets of parameters. To obtain the correlation functions shown in Fig. 3 we consider the calculations with t/a = 12, both for p–Ξ− and p–Ω−. The statistical uncertainty of the calculations is evaluated using the jackknife variations, and a systematic uncertainty is added in quadrature evaluated by considering calculations with t/a = 11 and t/a = 13. Online content Any methods, additional references, Nature Research reporting summaries, source data, extended data, supplementary information, acknowledgements, peer review information; details of author contributions and competing interests; and statements of data and code availability are available at 10.1038/s41586-020-3001-6. Peer review information Nature thanks Kazuya Aoki, Andrzej Kupsc, Manuel Lorenz and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work. Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. A list of members and their affiliations appears at the end of the paper Deceased: R. D. Majka Change history 1/15/2021 A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-03142-2. Acknowledgements We are grateful to T. Hatsuda and K. Sasaki from the HAL QCD Collaboration for their valuable suggestions and for providing the lattice QCD results regarding the p–Ξ− and p–Ω− interactions. We are also grateful to A. Ohnishi, T. Hyodo, T. Iritani, Y. Kamiya and T. Sekihara for their suggestions and discussions. We thank all the engineers and technicians of the LHC for their contributions to the construction of the experiment and the CERN accelerator teams for the performance of the LHC complex. We acknowledge the resources and support provided by all Grid centres and the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid (WLCG) collaboration. We acknowledge the following funding agencies for their support in building and running the ALICE detector: A. I. Alikhanyan National Science Laboratory (Yerevan Physics Institute) Foundation (ANSL), State Committee of Science and World Federation of Scientists (WFS), Armenia; Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austrian Science Fund (FWF): [M 2467-N36] and Nationalstiftung für Forschung, Technologie und Entwicklung, Austria; Ministry of Communications and High Technologies, National Nuclear Research Center, Azerbaijan; Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientfico e Tecnológico (CNPq), Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos (Finep), Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) and Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Brazil; Ministry of Education of China (MOEC), Ministry of Science and Technology of China (MSTC) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), China; Ministry of Science and Education and Croatian Science Foundation, Croatia; Centro de Aplicaciones Tecnológicas y Desarrollo Nuclear (CEADEN), Cubaenerga, Cuba; Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic, Czech Republic; The Danish Council for Independent Research | Natural Sciences, the VILLUM FONDEN and Danish National Research Foundation (DNRF), Denmark; Helsinki Institute of Physics (HIP), Finland; Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique (CEA) and Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules (IN2P3) and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), France; Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) and GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH, Germany; General Secretariat for Research and Technology, Ministry of Education, Research and Religions, Greece; National Research, Development and Innovation Office, Hungary; Department of Atomic Energy Government of India (DAE), Department of Science and Technology, Government of India (DST), University Grants Commission, Government of India (UGC) and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India; Indonesian Institute of Science, Indonesia; Centro Fermi – Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro Studi e Ricerche Enrico Fermi and Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Italy; Institute for Innovative Science and Technology, Nagasaki Institute of Applied Science (IIST), Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) KAKENHI, Japan; Consejo Nacional de Ciencia (CONACYT) y Tecnología, through Fondo de Cooperación Internacional en Ciencia y Tecnología (FONCICYT) and Dirección General de Asuntos del Personal Academico (DGAPA), Mexico; Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO), Netherlands; The Research Council of Norway, Norway; Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (COMSATS), Pakistan; Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Peru; Ministry of Science and Higher Education, National Science Centre and WUT ID-UB, Poland; Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information and National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), Republic of Korea; Ministry of Education and Scientific Research, Institute of Atomic Physics and Ministry of Research and Innovation and Institute of Atomic Physics, Romania; Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR), Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, National Research Centre Kurchatov Institute, Russian Science Foundation and Russian Foundation for Basic Research, Russia; Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic, Slovakia; National Research Foundation of South Africa, South Africa; Swedish Research Council (VR) and Knut & Alice Wallenberg Foundation (KAW), Sweden; European Organization for Nuclear Research, Switzerland; Suranaree University of Technology (SUT), National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSDTA) and Office of the Higher Education Commission under NRU project of Thailand, Thailand; Turkish Atomic Energy Agency (TAEK), Turkey; National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Ukraine; Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), United Kingdom; National Science Foundation of the United States of America (NSF) and United States Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Physics (DOE NP), United States of America. Author contributions All authors have contributed to the publication, being variously involved in the design and the construction of the detectors, in writing software, calibrating subsystems, operating the detectors and acquiring data, and finally analysing the processed data. The ALICE Collaboration members discussed and approved the scientific results. The manuscript was prepared by a subgroup of authors appointed by the collaboration and subject to an internal collaboration-wide review process. All authors reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript. Data availability All data shown in histograms and plots are publicly available on the HEPdata repository (https://hepdata.net). Code availability The source code used in this study is publicly available under the names AliPhysics (https://github.com/alisw/AliPhysics) and AliRoot (https://github.com/alisw/AliROOT). Further information can be provided by the authors upon reasonable request. 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