We discuss the physics of large impact parameter interactions at the LHC: ultraperipheral collisions (UPCs). The dominant processes in UPCs are photon–nucleon (nucleus) interactions. The current LHC ...detector configurations can explore hard phenomena at small
x
with nuclei and nucleons at photon–nucleon center-of-mass energies above 1 TeV, extending the
x
range of HERA by a factor of ten. In particular, it will be possible to probe diffractive and inclusive parton densities in nuclei using several processes. The interaction of small dipoles with protons and nuclei can be investigated in elastic and quasi-elastic
J
/
ψ
and
Υ
production as well as in high
t
ρ
0
production accompanied by a rapidity gap. Several of these phenomena provide clean signatures of the onset of the new high gluon density QCD regime. The LHC is in the kinematic range where nonlinear effects are several times larger than those at HERA. Two-photon processes in UPCs are also studied. In addition, while UPCs play a role in limiting the maximum beam luminosity, they can also be used as a luminosity monitor by measuring mutual electromagnetic dissociation of the beam nuclei. We also review similar studies at HERA and RHIC as well as describe the potential use of the LHC detectors for UPC measurements.
Particle identification with the ALICE detector Scapparone, E.
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
2009, 2009-1-00, Letnik:
598, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
This paper describes the particle identification (PID) capability of the ALICE detector. ALICE makes use of several particle discrimination techniques to address successfully the challenge of ...identifying particles in high-density events produced in Pb–Pb interactions at LHC energies. The combination of several sub-detectors makes the measurement more robust and wider in momentum, allowing the detector to use the PID as a key tool for the complete understanding of heavy-ion collisions at LHC.
A double-phase argon Time Projection Chamber (TPC), with an active mass of 185 g, has been designed and constructed for the Recoil Directionality (ReD) experiment. The aim of the ReD project is to ...investigate the directional sensitivity of argon-based TPCs via columnar recombination to nuclear recoils in the energy range of interest (20–
200
keV
nr
) for direct dark matter searches. The key novel feature of the ReD TPC is a readout system based on cryogenic Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs), which are employed and operated continuously for the first time in an argon TPC. Over the course of 6 months, the ReD TPC was commissioned and characterised under various operating conditions using
γ
-ray and neutron sources, demonstrating remarkable stability of the optical sensors and reproducibility of the results. The scintillation gain and ionisation amplification of the TPC were measured to be
g
1
=
(
0.194
±
0.013
)
photoelectrons/photon and
g
2
=
(
20.0
±
0.9
)
photoelectrons/electron, respectively. The ratio of the ionisation to scintillation signals (S2/S1), instrumental for the positive identification of a candidate directional signal induced by WIMPs, has been investigated for both nuclear and electron recoils. At a drift field of 183 V/cm, an S2/S1 dispersion of 12% was measured for nuclear recoils of approximately 60–
90
keV
nr
, as compared to 18% for electron recoils depositing 60 keV of energy. The detector performance reported here meets the requirements needed to achieve the principal scientific goals of the ReD experiment in the search for a directional effect due to columnar recombination. A phenomenological parameterisation of the recombination probability in LAr is presented and employed for modeling the dependence of scintillation quenching and charge yield on the drift field for electron recoils between 50–500 keV and fields up to 1000 V/cm.
Abstract
After its successful campaign of measurements beyond the Polar Arctic Circle, the PolarquEEEst experiment measured the cosmic charged particle rate at sea level in a latitude interval ...between 35
$$^{\circ }$$
∘
N and 82
$$^{\circ }$$
∘
N. In this paper, these measurements are described and the corresponding results are discussed.
Various experiments are searching for detectors that can cover large areas (as in the present LHC experiments) with excellent timing performances and insensitivity to magnetic field. A detector based ...on scintillators coupled to SiPM can fulfil these requirements. SiPMs are indeed replacing the standard PhotoMultiplier technology thanks to the many advantages, with the corresponding possibility to achieve also higher segmentations in calorimetry or other applications. Also in view of future colliders experiments like HL-LHC or FCC or medical applications like TOF-PET, an important R&D on timing performances of SiPMs-scintillator detectors has begun, with the goal of including them in the list of possible 4-D tracking-timing devices.
An R&D on SiPM coupled to scintillator time resolution has been performed in a cosmic ray setup. Different kind of SiPMs, geometries of SiPMs coupled to the scintillator and different size of scintillator have been also studied. A time resolution of ∼69 ps, comprehensive of the full electronic chain, from the front-end to the readout electronics, has been achieved with SiPMs coupled to a 2x2x3 cm3 plastic scintillator.
The Time-Of-Flight (TOF) detector of the ALICE experiment at the CERN LHC is based on Multi-gap Resistive Plate Chambers (MRPCs) technology. During the 2009-2013 data taking the TOF system had very ...stable operations with a total time resolution of 80ps. Details of the different calibration procedures and performance with data from collisions at the LHC will be described.
This paper describes the simulation framework of the extreme energy events (EEE) experiment. EEE is a network of cosmic muon trackers, each made of three multi-gap resistive plate chambers (MRPC), ...able to precisely measure the absolute muon crossing time and the muon integrated angular flux at the ground level. The response of a single MRPC and the combination of three chambers have been implemented in a GEANT4-based framework (GEMC) to study the telescope response. The detector geometry, as well as details about the surrounding materials and the location of the telescopes have been included in the simulations in order to realistically reproduce the experimental set-up of each telescope. A model based on the latest parametrization of the cosmic muon flux has been used to generate single muon events. After validating the framework by comparing simulations to selected EEE telescope data, it has been used to determine detector parameters not accessible by analysing experimental data only, such as detection efficiency, angular and spatial resolution.
In this paper, different Silicon PhotoMultiplier (SiPM) sensors have been tested with charged particles to characterize the Cherenkov light produced in the sensor protection layer. A careful position ...scan of the SiPM response has been performed with different prototypes, confirming the large number of firing cells and proving almost full efficiency, with the SiPM filling factor essentially negligible. This study also allowed us to study the time resolution of such devices as a function of the number of firing cells, reaching values below 20 ps. These measurements provide significant insight into the capabilities of SiPM sensors in direct detection of charged particles and their potential for several applications.
In this paper, evidence that the increased response of SiPM sensors to the passage of charged particles is related mainly to Cherenkov light produced in the protection layer is reported. The response ...and timing properties of sensors with different protection layers have been studied.