Speaker
Description
The pseudorapidity dependence of charged-particle production provides information on the interplay between hard and soft QCD processes and is sensitive to non-linear QCD evolution in the initial state. For the LHC Run 3, ALICE has upgraded its detectors, increasing its pseudorapidity coverage and improving tracking of charged particles. This is done by combining the information from the upgraded Inner Tracking System (ITS) at mid-rapidity and the newly installed Muon Forward Tracker (MFT) at forward rapidity. In July 2025, the LHC delivered short light-ion runs with pO, OO, and Ne$-$Ne collisions, providing a unique opportunity to bridge the gap between proton$-$proton and heavy-ion collisions. This contribution presents new results from Run 3 on charged-particle multiplicity, allowing us to investigate the evolution of particle production with energy and system size with high precision. The measurement will be compared with models based on various particle-production mechanisms and different initial conditions at mid and forward rapidities.