Charged pion spectra at high $p_T$ in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 900 GeV, measured by the ALICE TPC

The ALICE Time Projection Chamber (TPC) is used for tracking and measuring momentum and specific energy loss, dE/dx, of charged particles produced in hadron collisions at the LHC. This Master’s dissertation describes the statistical identification of charged hadrons (pions, kaons and protons) on the relativistic rise (transverse momentum pT > 3 GeV/c) of the dE/dx curve of the ALICE TPC. Two complementary methods are evaluated and compared. An effect of track cluster charge falling below the threshold of the read-out electronics is found to influence the species separation in dE/dx, and methods to recover the separation are suggested and discussed. Charged pion fractions and invariant charged pion yields in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 900 GeV are presented as a function of pT, for pseudorapidity |eta| < 0.8 and 3 < pT < 10 GeV/c.