Performance studies for the trigger-less data acquisition of the PANDA experiment (phase-1)

Abstract

Despite its successes, the Standard Model (SM) still contains certain gaps in the knowledge about the strong interactions. For example, a mass-generation mechanism (Higgs mechanism) is only responsible for 1% of the mass of proton, which is the first hadron discovered by physicists. The origin of the rest 99% is still not fully understood. According to Quantum Chromo Dynamics (QCD), the theory describing strong interactions within the SM, fundamental blocks of hadrons, quarks and gluons, are able to carry color charge and form color-neutral states. The latter can be a common matter (meson and baryon states) as well as an exotics (non-meson and non-baryon states). One of the possible ways to understand the dynamics of strong interactions is the investigation of conventional and exotic states in nuclear and particle physics experiments able to provide high-interaction rates sufficient for production of these states. AntiProton ANnihilations at DArmstadt (PANDA) at the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) in Darmstadt is one such experiment. PANDA aims to explore a transition region between non-perturbative and perturbative regimes of QCD using antiproton-proton annihilations at high interaction rates. In this thesis, the performance of the trigger-less Data Acquisition (DAQ) system of the PANDA experiment is studied in terms of requirements for its starting phase (phase-1). Additionally, a possible data acquisition strategy was found for this phase. The results obtained from experimental measurements, as well as simulation studies, showed that trigger-less DAQ using the proposed strategy can fulfill the requirements of the PANDA experiment for phase-1.