Perspectives of J/ψ measurements in the ALICE experiment at the CERN LHC

Quarkonia are key observables to probe the deconfined matter produced in heavy ion collisions at the CERN LHC in an unprecedented regime of high initial energy densities. Quarkonia measurements in p+p collisions are crucial for testing theoretical models and to provide a reference for Pb+Pb collisions. We report on a study of the J/ψ→ e+e- measurement in the central barrel of ALICE detector. This measurement relies on the excellent tracking and particle identification capabilities of the Time Projection Chamber and the Transition Radiation Detector in ALICE. The performance of the J/ψ reconstruction is evaluated based on simulated events including a detailed description of the full ALICE detector systems. We estimate the efficiency of J/ψ detection as well as the signal to background ratio. An optimization of the analysis cuts based on efficiency and background contribution is carefully examined. Finally, our expectations for the first year of data taking are presented. An important capability of the TRD is to provide a Level-1 trigger on high-momentum electrons, allowing for an excellent measurement of J/ψ at high transverse momenta as well as of ψ' and the Upsilon family. We show first estimates of the performance of such a trigger.