abstract
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The inclusive charged particle transverse momentum distribution is measured
in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 900$ GeV at the LHC using the ALICE
detector. The measurement is performed in the central pseudorapidity region
$(|\eta|<0.8)$ over the transverse momentum range $0.15
_{\rm INEL}=0.483\pm0.001$ (stat.) $\pm0.007$ (syst.) GeV/$c$ and $\left _{\rm NSD}=0.489\pm0.001$ (stat.) $\pm0.007$ (syst.) GeV/$c$, respectively. The data exhibit a slightly larger $\left $ than measurements in wider pseudorapidity intervals. The results are compared to simulations with the Monte Carlo event generators PYTHIA and PHOJET.