Pion–Muon separation with a RICH prototype for the NA62 experiment

• DOI: 10.1016/j.nima.2010.05.062
• Publication Date: 2010-06-10T09:01:27Z
• Authors: B. Angelucci; G. Anzivino; C. Avanzini; C. Biino; A. Bizzeti; F. Bucci; A. Cassese; P. Cenci; R. Ciaranfi; G. Collazuol; V. Falaleev; S. Galeotti; S. Giudici; E. Iacopini; G. Lamanna; M. Lenti; G. Magazzù; E.M. Marinova; M. Pepe; R. Piandani; M. Piccini; G. Ruggiero; A. Sergi; M. Sozzi; M. Veltri
• Keywords: Momentum (technical analysis)

Abstract The NA62 experiment at CERN, aimed to measure K + → π + ν ν ¯ branching fraction (O(10−10)), relies on a Neon based RICH detector for π / μ separation, time measurement and level 0 trigger. The experimental requirements for this detector are: a muon contamination in pion samples lower than 5×10−3 in the momentum range 15–35 GeV/c and a time resolution on the charged track better than 100 ps. A prototype of such a detector was built and tested in 2009; it consists of a full length ( ≈ 18 m ) Ne filled vessel equipped with a spherical mirror and 414 PMs on its focal plane, located about 17 m upstream of the mirror. This prototype was tested at CERN SPS on a positive hadron beam, in the required momentum range, to measure the π / μ separation and to confirm the time resolution obtained with a previous prototype; the μ misidentification probability is about 0.7% and the time resolution is better than 100 ps in the whole momentum range.