Extension of the L1Calo PreProcessor System for the ATLAS Phase-I Calorimeter Trigger Upgrade

For the Run-3 data-taking period at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the hardware- based Level-1 Calorimeter Trigger (L1Calo) of the ATLAS experiment was upgraded. Through new and sophisticated algorithms, the upgrade will increase the trigger performance in a challenging, high-pileup environment while maintaining low selection thresholds. The Tile Rear Extension (TREX) modules are the latest addition to the L1Calo PreProcessor system. Hosting state-of-the-art FPGAs and high-speed optical transceivers, the TREX modules provide digitised hadronic transverse energies from the ATLAS Tile Calorimeter to the new feature extractor (FEX) processors every 25 ns. In addition, the modules are designed to maintain compatibility with the original trigger processors. The system of 32 TREX modules has been developed, produced and successfully installed in ATLAS. The thesis describes the functional implementation of the modules and the detailed integration and commissioning into the ATLAS detector

Increased levels of circulating Annexin A5 in Familial Mediterranean fever

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Familial Mediterranean fever is a genetic autoinflammatory disease most commonly affecting the ethnic groups originating from around the Mediterranean Sea. Apoptosis plays an important role in down-regulation of the inflammatory response by reducing the lifespan of activated immunocompetent cells. Thus, increased apoptosis may be associated with pathogenesis of familial Mediterranean fever.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In the present study we determined the serum levels of apoptotic marker, Annexin A5, in familial Mediterranean fever patients, within an attack and attack-free, in comparison to healthy subjects and assessed the influence of colchicine treatment on this parameter. In addition, in all study subjects serum levels of C-reactive protein and interleukine-1β, and the total leukocyte count were also determined.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Our results demonstrated that pathogenesis of familial Mediterranean fever is characterized by the increased levels of circulating Annexin A5, which is higher in patients within the attack and which associate with the increased levels of C-reactive protein and interleukine-1β and total leukocyte count.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results obtained indicate elevated rates of apoptosis of subpopulations of leukocytes involved in autoinflammation and recurrent episodes of fever in familial Mediterranean fever. It was also revealed that regular colchicine treatment sufficiently decreases the rate of apoptosis in familial Mediterranean fever patients by affecting the intensity of autoinflammatory reactions.</p

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements

A radiation tolerant readout link and control board for the Phase-II upgrade of the ATLAS Hadronic Tile Calorimeter

This work presents performance and radiation test results for the updated prototype of a radiation tolerant read-out link and control Daughterboard (DB) for the Phase-II upgrade of the ATLAS Hadronic Tile Calorimeter (TileCal) front-end electronics for high-luminosity LHC. In the upgraded system, photomultiplier signals are ampli ed, shaped and digitized by the front-end electronics and a Mainboard (MB), while the DB collects and transmits the digitized data to the off-detector over multigigabit optical links. The DB provides a bi-directional interface between the front-end and off-detector electronics, receiving con figuration, control and LHC-synchronous timing over two 4.8 Gbps downlinks to a pair of CERN GBTx ASICs, and providing high-speed readout off-detector over two redundant 9.6 Gbps uplinks, each driven by one of two Xilinx Kintex Ultrascale FPGAs. The DB design is double redundant to minimise single-point failure modes, and the FPGA fi rmware uses strategies including TMR, FEC and CRC to minimize the effects of single-event upsets and damage from hadronic and minimum ionizing radiation. The DB is expected to receive approximately 0.2 krad of total ionizing and 2.44 neutrons / $cm^{2}$ of non-ionising radiation over a 10 year period, so the prototype board and components have undergone TID, NIEL and SEE with large safety factors in order to be radiation quali ed for high-luminosity LHC operations

Multi-Anode Photomultplier (MAPMT) readout for High Granularity Calorimeters

Hadron calorimeter high performance in jet sub-structure measurements can be achieved for objects with $p_{T}$ greater than 1 TeV if the readout geometry is finely segmented in $\Delta\eta \times \Delta\phi$. A feasibility study to increase the readout granularity of TileCal, the central hadron calorimeter of the ATLAS detector, is presented. We show a preliminary study exploring the possibility to increase by a factor 4 the present readout granularity of the inner layer cells of TileCal (0.1->0.025 in $\Delta\eta$) and to split into two layers the intermediate section of TileCal. The proposed solution is designed to cope with mechanical and readout bandwidth and power constraints. Assuming that the mechanics of the Tile modules cannot be changed, Multi-Anode PMTs with same boundary geometry of the present single-anode PMTs are considered to readout WLS bers, ideally one per pixel, carrying the signals from the individual scintillating tiles of each detector cells. The discussed challenges of the design are: the new optics required to expand the image of WLS fiber bundle onto the MAPMT cathode; the procedure to map the individual tile luminous signal in the individual anode signal; the architecture of the new front end electronics for summing and digitizing the MAPMT signals

The European Union and the South Caucasus; Three Perspectives on the Future of the European Project from the Caucasus. Europe in Dialogue 2009/1

Tigran Mkrtchyan singles out three main factors that determine Armenia’s rather positive attitude to and interest in EU policies in the Caucasus region. Firstly, further cooperation with the EU could guarantee a democratically stable future for the country. Secondly, Armenia would benefit from increased economic cooperation with the EU. Thirdly, to a large extent the population feels that it belongs to Europe. However, some critics, mostly from the ranks of the intelligentsia, have expressed concern that too much Europeanization constitutes a threat to national identity.///// Tabib Huseynov agrees with Mkrtchyan in calling for a more active EU role in the region and most notably in the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. This would lay the foundations for the ongoing development of the region. Huseynov outlines factors contributing to or impeding regional cooperation in the South Caucasus and cooperation between the EU and Azerbaijan. Whereas Georgia and Armenia are seeking EU membership in the long term and financial assistance in some areas, Azerbaijan remains financially independent on account of its oil revenues and is not interested in EU membership in the near future. It is far more interested in increased economic and trade cooperation./// Kakha Gogolashvili, Director of EU Studies at the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies (GFSIS), describes the level of acceptance for EU policies in Georgia. To a large extent the general goals of Georgian policy-makers are aligned with those of the EU, and this facilitates cooperation in implementing reforms in the country

The TileCal TDAQ interface module for the Phase II Upgrade of the ATLAS Tile Calorimeter

In order to meet the requirements for the High Luminosity-Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC), a completely new architecture will be used to redesign the readout electronics of the ATLAS Tile Calorimeter (TileCal) system for the ATLAS Phase-II Upgrade. In the new Trigger and Data AcQuisition (TDAQ) architecture, the output signals of the Tile detector cells will be digitized in the front-end electronics and transferred for every bunch crossing to the off-detector Tile PreProcessor (TilePPr) modules through high-speed optical links. The TilePPr will then reconstruct energy deposited in each cell from the digitized samples and transfer the pre-processed cell energy data further to the Tile TDAQ interface (TileTDAQi) modules. The TileTDAQi will then group the cell energy data to generate trigger primitives with different granularity and implement interfaces based on different requirements from the Feature Extractor (FEX) and other trigger processor modules. At the same time, the TilePPr will also store the energy information in pipeline memories and send selected data out to the ATLAS data acquisition system. The TileTDAQi module will be implemented on an Advanced Telecommunications Computing Architecture (ATCA) Rear Transition Module (RTM) format and will operate under the ATCA framework. This contribution will provide an overview of the new TileCal back-end electronics architecture and present the design and implementation of the TileTDAQi prototype together with preliminary test results

The Phase-I Upgrade of the ATLAS Level-1 Calorimeter Trigger

The ATLAS level-1 calorimeter trigger (L1Calo) is a hardware-based system that identifies events containing calorimeter-based physics objects, including electrons, photons, taus, jets, and missing transverse energy. In preparation for Run 3, when the LHC will run at higher energy and instantaneous luminosity, L1Calo is currently implementing a significant programme of planned upgrades. The existing hardware will be replaced by a new system of FPGA-based feature extractor (FEX) modules, which will process finer-granularity information from the calorimeters and execute more sophisticated algorithms to identify physics objects; these upgrades will permit better performance in a challenging high-luminosity and high-pileup environment. This talk will introduce the features of the upgraded L1Calo system and the current status of installation and commissioning. In addition, the expected performance of L1Calo in Run 3 will be discussed