MRI: Development of a Radiation Tolerant Low-mass Silicon Tracker for the LHCb Upgrade

Syracuse University, Syracuse NY

Investigators

Abstract

This is a MRI development award to the particle physics group at Syracuse University to design and build the central core of the Upgrade Tracker (the UT) for the LHCb Experiment, located at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, Geneva, Switzerland. LHCb is currently the premier dedicated experiment for the study of hadronic production of heavy quark systems containing charm and beauty quarks. The UT is a silicon tracking detector, and the Syracuse group has key expertise to develop and deliver this important instrumentation to the experiment, including fundamental knowledge of the underlying physics, devices, metrology, simulations, and implementation. The scientific focus of the Syracuse group is directed toward the study of B decays, Charm decays, and study of CP violation processes which are related to and potentially important for the understanding of the matter-antimatter asymmetry observed in the universe. The proposed UT will enable LHCb to study these very rare processes effectively and to fully exploit the increased luminosity planned for LHC operations at collision energies up to 14 TeV and collision intervals of 25 nsec. The broader impacts of the program are significant for the training of young research scientists in instrumentation development and will greatly enhance their training and exposure to state of the art hardware and electronics systems.