Abstract
The dependence of $$\textrm{f}_{0}$$ f 0 (980) production on the final-state charged-particle multiplicity is reported for proton–proton (pp) collisions at the centre-of-mass energy, $$\sqrt{s}=$$ s = 13 TeV. The production of $$\textrm{f}_{0}$$ f 0 (980) is measured with the ALICE detector via the $$\textrm{f}_0 (980) \rightarrow \pi ^{+}\pi ^{-}$$ f 0 ( 980 ) → π + π - decay channel in a midrapidity region of $$|y|<$$ | y | < 0.5. The evolution of the integrated yields and mean transverse momentum of f $$_{0}$$ 0 (980) as a function of charged-particle multiplicity measured in pp at $$\sqrt{s}=$$ s = 13 TeV follows the trends observed in pp at $$\sqrt{s}=$$ s = 5.02 TeV and in proton–lead (p–Pb) collisions at $$\sqrt{s_{\textrm{NN}}}=$$ s NN = 5.02 TeV. Particle yield ratios of $$\textrm{f}_{0}$$ f 0 (980) to $$\pi ^{\pm }$$ π ± and $$\textrm{K}^{*}$$ K ∗ (892) $$^{0}$$ 0 are found to decrease with increasing charged-particle multiplicity. These particle ratios are compared with calculations from the canonical statistical thermal model as a function of charged-particle multiplicity. The thermal model calculations provide a better description of the decreasing trend of particle ratios when no strange or antistrange quark composition for f $$_{0}$$ xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org