Measurement of the production cross section of prompt $ {\Xi}_{\mathrm{c}}^0 $ baryons at midrapidity in pp collisions at $ \sqrt{s} $ = 5.02 TeV
The transverse momentum (p T ) differential cross section of the charm-strange baryon $ {\Xi}_{\mathrm{c}}^0 $ is measured at midrapidity (|y| < 0.5) via its semileptonic decay into e + Ξ - ν e in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 5.02 TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC. The ratio of the p T -differential $ {\Xi}_{\mathrm{c}}^0 $-baryon and D 0 -meson production cross sections is also reported. The measurements are compared with simulations with different tunes of the PYTHIA 8 event generator, with predictions from a statistical hadronisation model (SHM) with a largely augmented set of charm-baryon states beyond the current lists of the Particle Data Group, and with models including hadronisation via quark coalescence. The p T -integrated cross section of prompt $ {\Xi}_{\mathrm{c}}^0 $-baryon production at midrapidity is also reported, which is used to calculate the baryon-to-meson ratio $ {\Xi}_{\mathrm{c}}^0 $/D 0 = 0.20 ± 0.04 (stat.)$^{+0.08}_{-0.07}$ (syst.). These results provide an additional indication of a modification of the charm fragmentation from e + e - and e - p collisions to pp collisions.