Overview of Heavy-flavour Measurements in ALICE

Abstract

ALICE is devoted to the study of the properties of the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP). This state of matter is created in ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions at the LHC. Heavy quarks are considered effective probes of the QGP since, due to their large masses, they are produced in hard scattering processes and experience the full evolution of the hot and dense medium while interacting with its constituents. The heavy-quark measurements provide insights on processes like in-medium energy loss and hadronization. Measurements in proton-proton collisions provide the baseline for interpreting heavy-ion collision results and constitute an excellent test of pQCD calculations. In addition, proton-nucleus collisions allow separating cold nuclear matter effects from those due to the deconfined strongly interacting matter created in heavy-ion collisions. In this contribution, an overview of recent ALICE results for open heavy flavours, quarkonia, and heavy-flavour jets is presented.