Event-activity Dependence of Heavy-flavor Production at the ALICE Experiment

Heavy-flavor production at the LHC offers valuable tests of quantum-chromodynamics calculations, owing to the large masses of heavy quarks. Measurements of charm production as a function of event activity reveal new features of charm production and fragmentation, providing insights into the interplay between soft and hard processes. In addition, charm production in heavy-ion collisions addresses flavor-dependent quark transport properties in both hot and cold nuclear matter, helping to clarify the roles of coalescence and fragmentation in heavy-flavor hadron formation. This contribution summarizes recent measurements from the ALICE experiment on charm production as a function of charged-particle multiplicity in \(pp\) collisions at various energies, including the measurements of charm baryon-to-meson production yield ratios in \(pp\), \(p\)–Pb, and Pb–Pb collisions. New results on \({D}^0\) production in \(pp\) collisions as a function of the transverse spherocity of the event are also presented. Abstract Published by the Jagiellonian University 2025 authors