Abstract: Measurement of the B-hadron production cross-section from single muons with the ALICE muon spectrometer. Loic Manceau for the ALICE collaboration

ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is the LHC detector designed to measure nucleus-nucleus (AA) collisions where the formation of the Quark Gluon Plasma is expected. The experiment will also study proton-proton (pp) collisions at 14 TeV. Amongst the relevant observables to be investigated in pp collisions, the B-hadron cross-section is particularly interesting since it provides benchmarks for theoretical models and is mandatory for understanding heavy flavour production in AA collisions. The heavy flavour production cross-section can be extracted from single muons by using a method developed by the UA1 collaboration and further used by the CDF and the D0 collaborations. The ALICE muon spectrometer and its expected performance for measuring the B-hadron cross-section from single muons will be presented.