MPhys project: Measuring Single Cherenkov Photons with High Resolution
| Dr Franz Muheim | E-mail: f.muheim@ed.ac.uk | Tel: 0131 650 5235/5307 |
| Dr Stephan Eisenhardt | E-mail: eisenhar@ph.ed.ac.uk | Tel: 0131 650 5307 |
The Edinburgh PPE group is involved in the LHCb experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, LHC, currently under construction at CERN. The goal of the LHCb experiment is to measure precisely CP violating asymmetries in the decay of B mesons.
The LHCb detector must be able to perform particle identification of charged pions, kaons and protons over the momentum range 1 to 100 GeV/c. Two Ring Imaging CHerenkov (RICH) detector will be built to determine the velocity of a charged particle traversing the detector by measuring the the angle between its trajectory and the direction of the emitted Cherenkov light. The RICH detectors must be equipped with photon counters that are capable of detecting single photons with good spatial resolution. In addition, the counters must have a very fast response time compatible with the 40 MHz LHC bunch crossing frequency.
At Edinburgh, we have a test facility for measuring properties of photo detectors such as the Hybrid Photodiode (Pixel-HPD) or Multianode Photo Multiplier Tubes (MaPMTs), one of which will be chosen by the LHCb experiment. These devices have a good quantum efficiency and produce large signals which can be measured with fast front-end electronics.
This project would involve the testing of the properties of a photo detector. It will include the setting up of equipment and programming for tasks like steering the apparatus, collecting data and analysis of data. This project will provide an opportunity to get involved in the tools that are used in the design, development and construction of a new particle physics detector.