Event-shape engineering for inclusive spectra and elliptic flow in Pb-Pb collisions at √s_NN = 2.76 TeV

We report on results obtained with the event-shape engineering technique applied to Pb-Pb collisions at √s_NN = 2.76 TeV. By selecting events in the same centrality interval, but with very different average flow, different initial-state conditions can be studied. We find the effect of the event-shape selection on the elliptic flow coefficient v₂ to be almost independent of transverse momentum p_T, which is as expected if this effect is attributable to fluctuations in the initial geometry of the system. Charged-hadron, -pion, -kaon, and -proton transverse momentum distributions are found to be harder in events with higher-than-average elliptic flow, indicating an interplay between radial and elliptic flow.