Development of compact, projective and modular ring imaging Cherenkov detector for particle identification in EIC experiments

Abstract

The recent announcement of the construction of an Electron Ion Collider (EIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory by the U.S. Department of Energy makes the long-sought experimental effort to explore the structure and properties of proton and nuclei in unprecedented precision and broad kinematic coverage a reality. Particle identification (PID) of the final state hadrons is a key requirement for EIC. In order to meet the challenge of the limited space in the electron endcap in EIC experiments, a compact, projective, and modular ring imaging Cherenkov (mRICH) detector is proposed for K/π separation from 3 up to 10 GeV/c. In addition, the mRICH design has a significant potential for e/π identification providing an important capability supplementing the electromagnetic calorimeters and other possible e/π PID systems at low transverse momentum. The mRICH detector consists of an aerogel radiator block, a Fresnel lens, a mirror-wall and a photosensor plane. The first prototype of this detector design was successfully tested at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in April 2016 and verified the detector working principles. This article highlights the recent advances and the preliminary beam test results of the second mRICH prototype in 2018.