The Level 0 Pixel Trigger System for the ALICE experiment

The ALICE Silicon Pixel Detector contains 1200 readout chips. Fast-OR signals indicate the presence of at least one hit in the 8192 pixel matrix of each chip. The 1200 bits are transmitted every 100 ns on 120 data readout optical links using the G-Link protocol. The Pixel Trigger System extracts and processes them to deliver an input signal to the Level 0 trigger processor targeting a latency of 800 ns. The system is modular and based on FPGA devices. The architecture allows the user to define and implement various trigger algorithms. The system uses advanced 12-channel parallel optical fiber modules operating at 1310 nm as optical receivers. Multi-channel G-Link receivers were realized in programmable hardware and tested. The design of the system and the progress of the ALICE Pixel Trigger project are described in this paper

The Magnetic Distortion Calibration System of the LHCb RICH1 Detector

The LHCb RICH1 detector uses hybrid photon detectors (HPDs) as its optical sensors. A calibration system has been constructed to provide corrections for distortions that are primarily due to external magnetic fields. We describe here the system design, construction, operation and performance.Comment: 9 pages, 14 figure

The pixel Fast-OR signal for the ALICE trigger in p-p collisions

The silicon pixel detector of the ALICE experiment at LHC comprises the two innermost layers of the inner tracking system of the apparatus. It contains 1200 readout chips, each of them corresponding to a 8192 pixel matrix. The single chip outputs a digital Fast-OR signal which is active whenever at least one of the pixels in the matrix records a hit. The 1200 Fast-OR output signals can be used to implement a unique triggering capability: few details on the pixel trigger system and some of the possible applications for p-p collisions are presented

Differential studies of inclusive J/ψ and ψ(2S) production at forward rapidity in Pb-Pb collisions at √sNN = 2.76 TeV

The production of J/ψ and ψ(2S) was studied with the ALICE detector in Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC. The measurement was performed at forward rapidity (2.5 < y < 4) down to zero transverse momentum (pt) in the dimuon decay channel. Inclusive J/ψ yields were extracted in different centrality classes and the centrality dependence of the average pt is presented. The J/ψ suppression, quantified with the nuclear modification factor (RAA), was measured as a function of centrality, transverse momentum and rapidity. Comparisons with similar measurements at lower collision energy and theoretical models indicate that the J/ψ production is the result of an interplay between color screening and recombination mechanisms in a deconfined partonic medium, or at its hadronization. Results on the ψ(2S) suppression are provided via the ratio of ψ(2S) over J/ψ measured in pp and Pb-Pb collisions.SCOAP

Multiparametric advanced research tool for meteo satellites data interfacing with space observation of ultra high energy cosmic rays

To approach the study of the cosmic rays in the energy range E > 1020 eV, the upper end of the spectrum observed to date, with a large statistical significance (103 events/year), and hence address the solution of several astrophysical and cosmological problems related to their existence and behaviour, a new generation of experiments will probably have to be conceived and realised. They will be based on the observation and measurements of cosmic rays from space. The extremely low rate of these events (∼ 1 event/(century × km2 × sr)) imposes a very large effective area to be monitored, of the order of 105 km2, as an observational requirement to meet the target statistics. The Extreme Universe Space Observatory (EUSO)mission has been proposed as the precursor of this new generation of experiments. Its approach consists in fact in looking downwards to the Earth atmosphere by means of a large field-of-view telescope accommodated aboard an orbiting satellite. The fluorescence strike produced by a cosmic ray through the atmosphere will be recorded by the detector, which will reconstruct the kinematical and dynamical features of the primary cosmic ray. The atmosphere acts therefore as an active target for the detectable event. A strategic tool for the success of EUSO as well as for all the experiments of its category will be a correct and detailed atmospheric sounding system, in order to monitor the atmospheric parameters within the field-of-view of the telescope. Beside an on-board measurement by means of dedicated devices such an infrared camera (IR)and possibly a LIDAR (LIght Detection And Ranging)coupled to the main instrument, the Atmosphere Sounding will take advantage from the continuous observation of the atmospheric parameters given by the orbiting meteorological satellites. Their databases have thus to be interfaced to the experimental data and used picking-up the relevant data according to the space and time coordinates corresponding to each triggered event. The present work outlines a software module (MARVIN-Multiparametric Advanced Research tool for Visualisation In the Network) able to build-up such an interface, and shows a preliminary implementation of it, using a sample of existing satellites and ISCCP meteorological data collection. It has been developed during the phase A study of the EUSO mission but is general enough to be adapted to different missions observing the Earth atmosphere from space

Search for weakly decaying n and exotic bound states in central Pb–Pb collisions at √sNN = 2.76 TeV

We present results of a search for two hypothetical strange dibaryon states, i.e. the H-dibaryon and the possible n bound state. The search is performed with the ALICE detector in central (0–10%) Pb–Pb collisions at √sNN = 2.76 TeV, by invariant mass analysis in the decay modes n → dπ+ and Hdibaryon → pπ−. No evidence for these bound states is observed. Upper limits are determined at 99% confidence level for a wide range of lifetimes and for the full range of branching ratios. The results are compared to thermal, coalescence and hybrid UrQMD model expectations, which describe correctly the production of other loosely bound states, like the deuteron and the hypertriton.SCOAP

Calibration of the Prompt L0 Trigger of the Silicon Pixel Detector for the ALICE Experiment

The ALICE Silicon Pixel Detector (SPD) is the innermost detector of the ALICE experiment at LHC. It includes 1200 front-end chips, with a total of ~107 pixel channels. The pixel size is 50 x 425 μm2. Each front-end chip transmits a Fast-OR signal upon registration of at least one hit in its pixel matrix. The signals are extracted every 100 ns and processed by the Pixel Trigger (PIT) system, to generate trigger primitives. Results are then sent within a latency of 800 ns to the Central Trigger Processor (CTP) to be included in the first Level 0 trigger decision. This paper describes the commissioning of the PIT, the tuning procedure of the front-end chips Fast-OR circuit, and the results of operation with cosmic muons and in tests with LHC beam

Longitudinal and azimuthal evolution of two-particle transverse momentum correlations in Pb–Pb collisions at sNN=2.76TeV

This paper presents the first measurements of the charge independent (CI) and charge dependent (CD) two-particle transverse momentum correlators G2CI and G2CD in Pb–Pb collisions at sNN=2.76TeV by the ALICE collaboration. The two-particle transverse momentum correlator G2 was introduced as a measure of the momentum current transfer between neighboring system cells. The correlators are measured as a function of pair separation in pseudorapidity (Δη) and azimuth (Δφ) and as a function of collision centrality. From peripheral to central collisions, the correlator G2CI exhibits a longitudinal broadening while undergoing a monotonic azimuthal narrowing. By contrast, G2CD exhibits a narrowing along both dimensions. These features are not reproduced by models such as HIJING and AMPT. However, the observed narrowing of the correlators from peripheral to central collisions is expected to result from the stronger transverse flow profiles produced in more central collisions and the longitudinal broadening is predicted to be sensitive to momentum currents and the shear viscosity per unit of entropy density η/s of the matter produced in the collisions. The observed broadening is found to be consistent with the hypothesized lower bound of η/s and is in qualitative agreement with values obtained from anisotropic flow measurements

Production of light-flavor hadrons in pp collisions at √s=7and√s=13TeV

The production of π±, K ±, KS0, K ∗(892) , p , ϕ(1020) , Λ , Ξ -, Ω -, and their antiparticles was measured in inelastic proton–proton (pp) collisions at a center-of-mass energy of s = 13 TeV at midrapidity (| y| < 0.5) as a function of transverse momentum (pT) using the ALICE detector at the CERN LHC. Furthermore, the single-particle pT distributions of KS0, Λ , and Λ ¯ in inelastic pp collisions at s=7 TeV are reported here for the first time. The pT distributions are studied at midrapidity within the transverse momentum range 0 ≤ pT≤ 20 GeV/c, depending on the particle species. The pT spectra, integrated yields, and particle yield ratios are discussed as a function of collision energy and compared with measurements at lower s and with results from various general-purpose QCD-inspired Monte Carlo models. A hardening of the spectra at high pT with increasing collision energy is observed, which is similar for all particle species under study. The transverse mass and xT≡2pT/s scaling properties of hadron production are also studied. As the collision energy increases from s = 7–13 TeV, the yields of non- and single-strange hadrons normalized to the pion yields remain approximately constant as a function of s, while ratios for multi-strange hadrons indicate enhancements. The pT-differential cross sections of π±, K ± and p (p ¯) are compared with next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculations, which are found to overestimate the cross sections for π± and p (p ¯) at high pT