Neutral meson production measurements with the ALICE at the LHC

Identified hadron spectra are considered to be sensitive to the transport properties of strongly interacting matter produced in high-energy nucleus-nucleus collisions. π⁰ and η mesons in ALICE are identified via their two-photon decays by using calorimeters and the central tracking system. In the latter, photons are measured via their conversion to electron-positron pairs in the material of the inner ALICE barrel tracking detectors. The measured production spectra in pp, p-Pb and Pb-Pb collisions at mid-rapidity and over a wide p_T range will be presented in the available Large Hadron Collider (LHC) energies of Run I. The resulting nuclear modification factor R_AA at different centrality classes shows a clear pattern of strong suppression in the hot QCD medium with respect to pp collisions. Comparison of the ALICE results on neutral mesons with lower-energy experiments is also discussed. (author)