Multiplicity dependence of the average transverse momentum in pp, p-Pb, and Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC

The average transverse momentum (p(T)) versus the charged-particle multiplicity N-ch was measured in p-Pb collisions at a collision energy per nucleon-nucleon √sNN = 5.02 TeV and in pp collisions at collision energies of √s = 0.9, 2.76, and 7 TeV in the kinematic range 0.15 < p(T) < 10.0 GeV/c and |eta| < 0.3 with the ALICE apparatus at the LHC. These data are compared to results in Pb-Pb collisions at √sNN = 2.76 TeV at similar charged-particle multiplicities. In pp and p-Pb collisions, a strong increase of (p(T)) with N-ch is observed, which is much stronger than that measured in Pb-Pb collisions. For pp collisions, this could be attributed, within a model of hadronizing strings, to multiple-parton interactions and to a final-state color reconnection mechanism. The data in p-Pb and Pb-Pb collisions cannot be described by an incoherent superposition of nucleon-nucleon collisions and pose a challenge to most of the event generators.