An algorithm for identifying rings in Ring Imaging Cherenkov (RICH) detectors is described. The algorithm is necessarily Bayesian and makes use of a Metropolis-Hastings Markov chain Monte Carlo sampler to locate the rings. In particular, the sampler employs a novel proposal function whose form is responsible for significant speed improvements over similar methods. The method is optimised for finding multiple overlapping rings in detectors which can be modelled well by the LHbC RICH toy model described herein.
TORCH is a time-of-flight detector concept using Cherenkov light to provide charged particle identification up to 10 GeV/c. The concept and design are described and performance in simulation is quantified.
We describe here a new concept of a Cherenkov detector for particle identification by means of measuring the Time-of-Propagation (TOP) of Cherenkov photons.
We describe a new aerogel threshold Cherenkov detector installed in the HMS spectrometer in Hall C at Jefferson Lab. The Hall C experimental program in 2003 required an improved particle identification system for better identification of pi/K/P, which was achieved by installing an additional threshold Cherenkov counter. Two types of aerogel with n=1.03 and n=1.015 allow one to reach 10^{-3} proton and 10^{-2} kaon rejection in the 1-5 GeV/c momentum range with pion detection efficiency better than 99% (97%). The detector response shows no significant position dependence due to a diffuse light …
A new particle identification device for Jlab 12 GeV program is proposed. It is based on the measurement of time information obtained by means of a new photon detector and time measuring concept. The expected time measurement precision for the Cherenkov time-of-flight detector is about or less than 10 picosecond for Cherenkov radiators with lengths less than 50 cm.
The paper reviews recent progress in particle identification methods. A survey of motivations and requirements for particle identification in various experimental environments is followed by the main emphasis, which is on the recent development of Cherenkov counters, from upgrades of existing devices to a novel focusing radiator concept and new photon detectors. The impact of including a precise measurement of the time of arrival of Cherenkov photons to increase the kinematical region over which particle identification can be performed is discussed. The progress in dedicated time-of-flight cou…
A prototype detector is being developed which combines the functions of a Time Projection Chamber for charged particle tracking and a Cherenkov detector for particle identification. The TPC consists of a 10x10x10 cm3 drift volume where the charge is drifted to a 10x10 cm2 triple GEM detector. The charge is measured on a readout plane consisting of 2x10 mm2 chevron pads which provide a spatial resolution ~ 100 microns per point in the chevron direction along with dE/dx information. The Cherenkov portion of the detector consists of a second 10x10 cm2 triple GEM with a photosensitive CsI photocat…
Linear alkyl benzene (LAB) has in recent years been used as a solvent for PPO in large-scale scintillation detectors, like Daya Bay and SNO+. The combination has several nice properties, including high light yield, good materials compatibility, and excellent pulse shape discrimination. As charged particles move through the LAB+PPO, both Cherenkov and scintillation light are created. Separating Cherenkov from scintillation light would allow a broad range of physics in future large-scale detectors like THEIA, by allowing direction reconstruction with Cherenkov light while retaining the high ligh…
The DIRC, a new type of Cherenkov imaging device, has been selected as the primary particle identification system for the BABAR detector at the asymmetric B-factory, PEP-II. It is based on total internal reflection and uses long, rectangular bars made from synthetic fused silica as Cherenkov radiators and light guides. In this paper, the principles of the DIRC ring imaging Cherenkov technique are explained and results from the prototype program are presented. The studies of the optical properties and radiation hardness of the quartz radiators are described, followed by a discussion of the dete…
Water Cherenkov detectors like Super-Kamiokande, and the next generation Hyper-Kamiokande are adding gadolinium to their water to improve the detection of neutrons. By detecting neutrons in addition to the leptons in neutrino interactions, an improved separation between neutrino and anti-neutrinos, and reduced backgrounds for proton decay searches can be expected. The neutron signal itself is still small and can be confused with muon spallation and other background sources. In this paper, machine learning techniques are employed to optimize the neutron capture detection capability in the new i…
Laboratório de Instrumentação e Física Experimental de Partículas (LIP)（粒子实验物理与仪器实验室）；Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), Universidade de Lisboa（里斯本大学高等理工学院）；University of Granada（格拉纳达大学）
This paper presents several approaches to deal with the problem of identifying muons in a water Cherenkov detector with a reduced water volume and 4 PMTs. Different perspectives of information representation are used and new features are engineered using the specific domain knowledge. As results show, these new features, in combination with the convolutional layers, are able to achieve a good performance avoiding overfitting and being able to generalise properly for the test set. The results also prove that the combination of state-of-the-art Machine Learning analysis techniques and water Cher…
A Ring Imaging Čerenkov detector built for the BRAHMS experiment at the Brookhaven RHIC is described. This detector has a high index of refraction gas radiator. Čerenkov light is focused on a photo-multiplier based photon detector with a large spherical mirror. The combination of momentum and ring radius measurement provides particle identification from 2.5 GeV/c up to 35 GeV/c for pions and kaons and well above 40 GeV/c for protons during runs that had the radiator index of refraction set at $n-1=1700 \times 10^{-6}$.
The muon tagging is an essential tool to distinguish between gamma and hadron-induced showers in wide field-of-view gamma-ray observatories. In this work, it is shown that an efficient muon tagging (and counting) can be achieved using a water Cherenkov detector with a reduced water volume and 4 PMTs, provided that the PMT signal spatial and time patterns are interpreted by an analysis based on Machine Learning (ML). The developed analysis has been tested for different shower and array configurations. The output of the ML analysis, the probability of having a muon in the WCD station, has been u…
Gamma Neutron Radioactive Source Identification in Water Cherenkov Detectors
Departamento de Física de Neutrones, Centro Atómico Bariloche（中子物理系，巴拉德奥切原子能中心）；Instituto Balseiro, CNEA-UNCuyo（巴尔塞罗研究所，CNEA-门多萨国立大学）；Escuela de Física, Universidad Industrial de Santander（桑坦德工业大学生物物理学院）；Departamento de Ciencias Básicas, Universidad Autónoma de Bucaramanga（巴兰基亚自治大学基础科学系）；Fractalis Adventures & piensas.xyz（Fractalis探险与piensas.xyz）；Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET)（国家科学研究委员会）
Massachusetts Institute of Technology（麻省理工学院）；University of Regina（里贾纳大学）
Imaging Cherenkov detectors form the backbone of particle identification (PID) at the future Electron Ion Collider (EIC). Currently all the designs for the first EIC detector proposal use a dual Ring Imaging CHerenkov (dRICH) detector in the hadron endcap, a Detector for Internally Reflected Cherenkov (DIRC) light in the barrel, and a modular RICH (mRICH) in the electron endcap. These detectors involve optical processes with many photons that need to be tracked through complex surfaces at the simulation level, while for reconstruction they rely on pattern recognition of ring images. This proce…
We describe the particle identification capability of the CLEO RICH system. This system consists of a 1 cm thick LiF radiator coupled to a photon detector that uses wire proportional chambers filled with a mixture of CH$_4$ and TEA. We discuss the yield of photoelectrons observed per ring and the angular resolution. We show the efficiencies achieved for particle identification and the associated fake rates from data collected with both CLEO III and CLEO-c detectors. Finally we show examples of the particle separation ability which is excellent for both CLEO III and CLEO-c data.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology（麻省理工学院）；Jefferson Lab（杰斐逊实验室）
Imaging Cherenkov detectors are largely used in modern nuclear and particle physics experiments where cutting-edge solutions are needed to face always more growing computing demands. This is a fertile ground for AI-based approaches and at present we are witnessing the onset of new highly efficient and fast applications. This paper focuses on novel directions with applications to Cherenkov detectors. In particular, recent advances on detector design and calibration, as well as particle identification are presented.
The DIRC technology (Detection of Internally Reflected Cherenkov light) offers an excellent possibility to minimize the form factor of Cherenkov detectors in hermetic high energy detectors. The PANDA experiment at FAIR in Germany will combine a barrel-shaped DIRC with a disc-shaped DIRC to cover an angular range of 5 to 140 degrees. Particle identification for pions and kaons with a separation power of 3 standard deviations or more will be provided for momenta between 0.5 GeV/c and 3.5 GeV/c in the barrel region and up to 4 GeV/c in the forward region. Even though the concept is simple, the de…
The DIRC is a new type of Cherenkov imaging device that will be used for the first time in the BABAR detector at the asymmetric B-factory, PEP-II. It is based on total internal reflection and uses long, rectangular bars made from synthetic fused silica as Cherenkov radiator and light guide. The principles of the DIRC ring imaging Cherenkov technique are explained and results from the prototype program are presented. Its choice for the BABAR detector particle identification system is motivated, followed by a discussion of the quartz radiator properties and the detector design.
The Ring Imaging Cherenkov detectors of the LHCb experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN are equipped with Hybrid Photo-Detectors. These vacuum photo-detectors are affected by the stray magnetic field of the LHCb magnet, which degrades their imaging properties. This effect increases the error on the Cherenkov angle measurement and would reduce the particle identification capabilities of LHCb. A system has been developed for the RICH2 Ring Imaging Cherenkov detector to perform a detailed characterisation of the magnetic distortion effects. It is described, along with the methods impleme…
Recently, the last two modules (out of seven) of the ALICE High Momentum Particle Identification detector (HMPID) were assembled and tested. The full detector, after a pre-commissioning phase, has been installed in the experimental area, inside the ALICE solenoid, at the end of September 2006. In this paper we review the status of the ALICE/HMPID project and we present a summary of the series production of the CsI photo-cathodes. We describe the key features of the production procedure which ensures high quality photo-cathodes as well as the results of the quality assessment performed by means…
A novel photon detector, the Silicon Photomultiplier (SiPM), has been tested in proximity focusing Ring Imaging Cherenkov (RICH) counters that were exposed to cosmic-ray particles in Ljubljana, and a 2 GeV electron beam at the KEK research facility. This type of RICH detector is a candidate for the particle identification detector upgrade of the BELLE detector at the KEK B-factory, for which the use of SiPMs, microchannel plate photomultiplier tubes or hybrid avalanche photodetectors, rather than traditional Photomultiplier Tubes (PMTs) is essential due to the presence of high magnetic fields.…
Two beamline Cherenkov detectors (Ckov-a,-b) support particle identification in the MICE beamline. Electrons and high-momentum muons and pions can be identified with good efficiency. We report on the Ckov-a,-b performance in detecting pions and muons with MICE Step I data and derive an upper limit on the pion contamination in the standard MICE muon beam.
We have developed a new type of particle identification device, called an Aerogel Ring Imaging Cherenkov (ARICH) counter, for the Belle II experiment. It uses silica aerogel tiles as Cherenkov radiators. For detection of Cherenkov photons, Hybrid Avalanche Photo-Detectors (HAPDs) are used. The designed HAPD has a high sensitivity to single photons under a strong magnetic field. We have confirmed that the HAPD provides high efficiency for single-photon detection even after exposure to neutron and gamma-ray radiation that exceeds the levels expected in the 10-year Belle II operation. In order to…
Particle identification at the Belle II experiment will be provided by two ring imaging Cherenkov devices, the time of propagation counters in the central region and the proximity focusing RICH with aerogel radiator in the forward end-cap region. The key features of these two detectors, the performance studies, and the construction progress is presented.
Particle identification at high rates is an important challenge for many current and future high-energy physics experiments. The upgrade of the COMPASS RICH-1 detector requires a new technique for Cherenkov photon detection at count rates of several $10^6$ per channel in the central detector region, and a read-out system allowing for trigger rates of up to 100 kHz. To cope with these requirements, the photon detectors in the central region have been replaced with the detection system described in this paper. In the peripheral regions, the existing multi-wire proportional chambers with CsI phot…
A combination Time Projection Chamber-Cherenkov prototype detector has been developed as part of the Detector R&D Program for a future Electron Ion Collider. The prototype was tested at the Fermilab test beam facility to provide a proof of principle to demonstrate that the detector is able to measure particle tracks and provide particle identification information within a common detector volume. The TPC portion consists of a 10x10x10cm3 field cage, which delivers charge from tracks to a 10x10cm2 quadruple GEM readout. Tracks are reconstructed by interpolating the hit position of clusters on an…
For future MeV-scale neutrino experiments, a Cherenkov scintillation detector, CSD, is of particular interest for its capability to reconstruct both energy and direction for charged particles. A type of new target material, slow liquid scintillator, SlowLS, which can be used to separate Cherenkov and scintillation lights, is one of the options for the neutrino detectors. A multi-hundred ton spherical CSD is simulated using a Geant4-based Monte Carlo software, which handles the detailed the micro processes of MeV particles and optical photons and the functions for photomultiplier, PMT, and read…
Ground-level particle detection is now a well-established approach to TeV gamma-ray astronomy. Detection of Cherenkov light produced in water-filled detection units is a proven and cost-effective method. Here we discuss the optimization of the units towards the future Southern Wide-field Gamma-ray Observatory (SWGO). In this context, we investigate a new type of configuration in which each water Cherenkov detector (WCD) unit in the array comprises two chambers with black or reflective walls and a single photomultiplier tube (PMT) in each chamber. We find that this is a cost-effective approach …
This article describes the physics and nonproliferation goals of WATCHMAN, the WAter Cherenkov Monitor for ANtineutrinos. The baseline WATCHMAN design is a kiloton scale gadolinium-doped (Gd) light water Cherenkov detector, placed 13 kilometers from a civil nuclear reactor in the United States. In its first deployment phase, WATCHMAN will be used to remotely detect a change in the operational status of the reactor, providing a first- ever demonstration of the potential of large Gd-doped water detectors for remote reactor monitoring for future international nuclear nonproliferation applications…
Massachusetts Institute of Technology（麻省理工学院）；Jefferson Lab（杰斐逊实验室）；Sapienza University of Rome（罗马第一大学）
Imaging Cherenkov detectors are largely used for particle identification (PID) in nuclear and particle physics experiments, where developing fast reconstruction algorithms is becoming of paramount importance to allow for near real time calibration and data quality control, as well as to speed up offline analysis of large amount of data. In this paper we present DeepRICH, a novel deep learning algorithm for fast reconstruction which can be applied to different imaging Cherenkov detectors. The core of our architecture is a generative model which leverages on a custom Variational Auto-encoder (VA…
Detection of supernova relic neutrinos could provide key support for our current understanding of stellar and cosmological evolution, and precise measurements of these neutrinos could yield novel insights into the universe. In this paper, we studied the detection potential of supernova relic neutrinos using linear alkyl benzene (LAB) as a slow liquid scintillator. The linear alkyl benzene features good separation of Cherenkov and scintillation lights, thereby providing a new route for particle identification. We further addressed key issues in current experiments, including (1) the charged cur…
The Aerogel Ring Imaging Cherenkov (ARICH) counter serves as a particle identification device in the forward end-cap region of the Belle II spectrometer. It is capable of identifying pions and kaons with momenta up to $4 \, {\rm GeV}/c$ by detecting Cherenkov photons emitted in the silica aerogel radiator. After the detector alignment and calibration of the probability density function, we evaluate the performance of the ARICH counter using early beam collision data. Event samples of $D^{\ast +} \to D^0 π^+ (D^0 \to K^-π^+)$ were used to determine the $π(K)$ efficiency and the $K(π)$ misidenti…
Nowadays the implementation of artificial neural networks in high-energy physics has obtained excellent results on improving signal detection. In this work we propose to use neural networks (NNs) for event discrimination in HAWC. This observatory is a water Cherenkov gamma-ray detector that in recent years has implemented algorithms to identify horizontal muon tracks. However, these algorithms are not very efficient. In this work we describe the implementation of three NNs: two based on image classification and one based on object detection. Using these algorithms we obtain an increase in the …
Two-Stage Gamma-Neutron Source Classification in Water Cherenkov Detectors: Energy Threshold Screening and Machine Learning Pulse Analysis
Centro Atómico Bariloche (CNEA/CONICET)（巴里洛切原子中心）；Instituto Balseiro, CNEA（巴尔塞罗研究所）；Universidad Autónoma de Bucaramanga（布卡拉曼加自治大学）；Universidad Industrial de Santander（桑坦德工业大学）；Universidad de Los Andes（洛斯安第斯大学）
A new generation of cryogenic light detectors exploiting Neganov-Luke effect to enhance the thermal signal has been used to detect the Cherenkov light emitted by the electrons interacting in TeO$_{2}$ crystals. With this mechanism a high significance event-by-event discrimination between alpha and beta/gamma interactions at the $^{130}$Te neutrino-less double beta decay Q-value - (2527.515 $\pm$ 0.013) keV - has been demonstrated. This measurement opens the possibility of drastically reducing the background in cryogenic experiments based on TeO$_{2}$.
