Centrality Dependence of the Charged-Particle Multiplicity Density at Midrapidity in Pb-Pb Collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02  TeV.

The pseudorapidity density of charged particles, dN_{ch}/dη, at midrapidity in Pb-Pb collisions has been measured at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of sqrt[s_{NN}]=5.02  TeV. For the 5% most central collisions, we measure a value of 1943±54. The rise in dN_{ch}/dη as a function of sqrt[s_{NN}] is steeper than that observed in proton-proton collisions and follows the trend established by measurements at lower energy. The increase of dN_{ch}/dη as a function of the average number of participant nucleons, ⟨N_{part}⟩, calculated in a Glauber model, is compared with the previous measurement at sqrt[s_{NN}]=2.76  TeV. A constant factor of about 1.2 describes the increase in dN_{ch}/dη from sqrt[s_{NN}]=2.76 to 5.02 TeV for all centrality classes, within the measured range of 0%-80% centrality. The results are also compared to models based on different mechanisms for particle production in nuclear collisions.