Multiplicity dependence of charged-particle intra-jet properties in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV
The first measurement of the multiplicity dependence of intra-jet properties of leading charged-particle jets in proton–proton (pp) collisions is reported. The mean charged particle multiplicity and jet fragmentation distributions are measured in minimum-bias and high-multiplicity pp collisions at center-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV using the ALICE detector. Jets are reconstructed from charged particles produced in the midrapidity region (|η| < 0.9) using the sequential recombination anti-k T algorithm with jet resolution parameters R = 0.2, 0.3, and 0.4 for the trans verse momentum (p T ) interval 5–110 GeV/c. The high multiplicity events are selected by the forward V0 scintilla tor detectors. The mean charged-particle multiplicity inside the leading jet cone rises monotonically with increasing jet p T in qualitative agreement with previous measurements at lower energies. The distributions of jet fragmentation function variables z ch and ξ ch are measured for different jet-p T intervals. Jet-p T independent fragmentation of leading jets is observed for wider jets except at high- and low-z ch values. The observed “hump-backed plateau” structure in the ξ ch distribution indicates suppression of low-p T particles. In high-multiplicity events, an enhancement of the fragmen tation probability of low-z ch particles accompanied by a suppression of high-zch particles is observed compared to minimum-bias events. This behavior becomes more promi nent for low-p T jets with larger jet radius. The results are compared with predictions of QCD-inspired event generators, PYTHIA 8 with Monash 2013 tune and EPOS LHC. It is found that PYTHIA 8 qualitatively reproduces the jet modification in high-multiplicity events except at high jet p T . These measurements provide important constraints to models of jet fragmentation.