Abstract We study the separation of soft and hard components in the transverse momentum spectra of charged particles as measured by ALICE in proton–proton collisions at s s = 2. 76, 5. 02 and 13 TeV at the LHC. The soft component is described by a Boltzmann fit, while the residual spectra are identified as a hard QCD-like fragmentation contribution. After separation, the subtracted spectra show no significant evolution in shape or peak position with multiplicity, consistent with a two-component interpretation. Mean transverse momenta for both contributions remain nearly constant across multiplicity classes, while Pythia 8 Monte Carlo simulations confirm these trends. The robustness of the decomposition is demonstrated by a comparison between simulations with and without color reconnection, yielding consistent results. The terms ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ are used as operational labels within this framework and should not be interpreted as uniquely identified dynamical components. Our results are consistent with the two-component description as a viable and physically motivated alternative to hydrodynamical interpretations.
Bíró et al. (Tue,) studied this question.