Transverse Momentum Evolution of Hadron-V0 Correlations in Proton-Proton Collisions at $\sqrt(s_NN)$ = 7 TeV

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva, Switzerland, is capable of accelerating beams of protons (pp) and heavy-ions (Pb+Pb) up to nearly the speed of light, which corresponds to center of mass energies of sqrt(s_NN) = 7 TeV and sqrt(s_NN) = 2.76 TeV, respectively. The goal of the pp program is to investigate physics of and beyond the standard model, while the heavy-ion program attempts to characterize the properties of a new state of matter, called the Quark Gluon Plasma. The main aim of this dissertation is to identify particle production mechanisms in pp collisions, also as a reference for possible modifications due to the plasma formation in heavy-ion collisions. Two-particle azimuthal correlation measurements were employed, which allow the study of high-pT parton fragmentation without full jet reconstruction. We present the results of correlations between charged trigger particles and associated strange baryons (Lambda) and mesons (K0S). Enhancements of the azimuthal correlations are seen at delta-phi = 0 and delta-phi = pi, resulting from back-to-back jet fragmentation in the parton center-of-mass system. Two model fit functions were introduced to characterize the properties of the jet peaks. Hard and soft yields were separated using the ZYAM method and extracted yields were compared with pQCD inspired models and inclusive spectra. The analysis was performed in different multiplicity bins to detect possible enhancements of Lambda or K0S yields and the Lambda/K0S ratio. The latter was observed in high multiplicity Pb+Pb collisions and interpreted as a novel production mechanism in the deconfined medium produced at the LHC. A novel data-driven feed-down correction for Lambdas is also introduced, which could allow a more accurate calculation of the primary Lambda.