Strange particle production in proton-proton collisions at root s=0.9 TeV with ALICE at the LHC

The production of mesons containing strange quarks (K(S)(0), phi) and both singly and doubly strange baryons (Lambda, (Lambda) over bar, and Xi(-) + (Xi) over bar (+)) are measured at mid-rapidity in pp collisions at root s = 0.9 TeV with the ALICE experiment at the LHC. The results are obtained from the analysis of about 250 k minimum bias events recorded in 2009. Measurements of yields (dN/dy) and transverse momentum spectra at mid-rapidity for inelastic pp collisions are presented. For mesons, we report yields (< dN/dy >) of 0.184 +/- 0.002(stat.) +/- 0.006(syst.) for K(S)(0) and 0.021 +/- 0.004(stat.) +/- 0.003(syst.) for phi. For baryons, we find < dN/dy > = 0.048 +/- 0.001(stat.) +/- 0.004(syst.) for Lambda, 0.047 +/- 0.002(stat.) +/- 0.005(syst.) for (Lambda) over bar and 0.0101 +/- 0.0020(stat.) +/- 0.0009(syst.) for Xi(-) + (Xi) over bar (+). The results are also compared with predictions for identified particle spectra from QCD-inspired models and provide a baseline for comparisons with both future pp measurements at higher energies and heavy-ion collisions.