Séminaires, soutenances

Physics opportunities for a high-luminosity fixed-target programme in the ALICE experiment (IPNO, CNRS-IN2P3, Univ. Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay)

par Laure Massacrier

Europe/Paris
amphi recherche

amphi recherche

Description

By splitting the multi-TeV LHC proton and lead beams with a bent crystal or by using an internal gas target, the LHC complex allows one to perform the most energetic fixed-target experiment ever and to study with high precision pp, pd and pA collisions at ÖsNN = 115 GeV as well as Pbp and PbA collisions at ÖsNN = 72 GeV. A broad programme, covering the large-x frontier for particle and astroparticle physics, spin and heavy-ion physics will greatly complement collider experiments, in particular those of RHIC and the future EIC project. The ALICE detectors provide many physics opportunities if running in fixed-target mode. One of the main strength of ALICE is its large rapidity coverage, thanks to the complementary between the muon spectrometer and the central barrel, which cover the mid to far backward rapidity region in the center-of-mass frame, in fixed target mode. The capability of the ALICE detector to operate with good performances in a high particle density environment is also an asset for the study of the most central PbA fixed-target collisions. In this seminar, I will show some projected physics performances in the ALICE acceptance for several probes, including open heavy flavours, quarkonia, strangeness and charged particles, in relation with their impacts on the study of the parton content of the nucleon and nucleus at high-x, the study of the nucleon spin and the study of Quark-Gluon Plasma properties. I will also discuss the technical solutions envisoned and ongoing integration studies for the target setup. The feasibility of these solutions are being investigated for a possible installation at the LHC interaction point IP2 during the Long Shutdown 3, in order to take data during LHC Run 4.