VHMPID

The ALICE experiment at CERN LHC is the dedicated one to study the heavy-ion collision and the produced Quark-Gluon-Plasma. The understanding of this new state of matter can enhance our knowlegde in quantum chromodynamics and the evolution of the primordial Universe.

The short-lived quark matter freezes into thouseands of particles, their measurement and identification is done via the detector system until 5 GeV/c momentum. The proposed Very High Momentum Identification Detector (VHMPID) could extend this region until 25 GeV/c.

When the velocity of a charged particle is larger than the speed of light in the surrounding material, light is emitted (similarly to a sound-explosion). From the angle of the emitted Cherenkov photons the velocity of the particle can be computed. The VHMPID is a ring imaging Cherenkov detector, where the photons are focused onto a circle with a large mirror.

Crucial part is the detection of the single photons with proper position resolution. We have investigated the usability of modified multiwire proportional chambers (MWPC), and several ThickGEM based micropattern designs (eg: TCPD).

Author: Gergő Hamar