Upgrading the ATLAS Experiment at the CERN LHC

升级 CERN LHC 的 ATLAS 实验

• 批准号: SAPEQ-2014-00018
• 负责人: McPherson, Robert
• 金额: $ 41.89万
• 依托单位: TRIUMF
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Subatomic Physics Envelope - Research Tools and Instruments
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2014-01-01 至 2015-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=567996
• 关键词: Upgrading; ATLAS; Experiment; CERN; LHC

With the observation of a Higgs boson, the future physics program with ATLAS at the CERN Large Hadron Collider is coming into focus. In addition to precise measurements of the couplings and other properties of this newly discovered particle, the motivation for new TeV-scale electroweak physics to stabilize the Higgs vacuum remains strong. The future LHC program was affirmed as the top priority of European particle physics in recent strategic planning, and the future of LHC and ATLAS operations is secure. The ATLAS detector requires upgrades to operate at the increasing energy and rates expected in the coming years, and maintaining Canadian involvement in ATLAS includes Canadian participation in the ATLAS detector upgrade program. Canadian groups are currently focusing on two near-term “phase 1” ATLAS upgrades: (i) construction, testing and installation of high-rate thin gap chambers (sTGC) for the new muon end cap “small wheel” and (ii) design, assembly, testing and installation of upgraded front-end electronics for the liquid argon calorimeter (LAr) trigger. Both of these upgrades are designed to allow ATLAS operation with low lepton (muon and electron) trigger transverse momentum thresholds which are essential for the studies of the Higgs and searches for new electroweak-scale physics processes such as supersymmetry, extra dimensions, or more generally the physics that could explain the nature of dark matter and help stabilize the Higgs vacuum. The Canadian sTGC program involves building one third of the sTGC chambers planned for ATLAS, or 64 “quadruplets”. The three Canadians sites include: (1) TRIUMF-based cathode preparation and carbon/epoxy spray facility to ensure precise resistive layer coating of the chamber interior walls; (2) Carleton-based wire winding and chamber assembly facility to complete the quadruplets for gas and high-voltage application; (3) McGill-based chamber cosmic ray testing facility to ensure the Canadian-built chambers are fully functional before shipping them to CERN. A significant part of the laboratory infrastructure for chamber construction and testing is being purchased with the funds from the NSERC RTI award from the 2013 competition, along with material for prototype chamber construction. Most of the remainder of the laboratory infrastructure, plus initial chamber construction materials, would be purchased with funds from the NSERC RTI request in the 2014 competition, allowing us to ramp up our chamber production facilities on the timescale required by ATLAS. The Canadian LAr Electronics program involves designing, prototyping and building new front-end crate baseplanes for the Canadian-built Hadronic Endcap Calorimeter (HEC). We will also design, build and test several parts of the analogue electronics for the project, and purchase ADC components for the boards. The 2013 NSERC RTI award funds are being used for initial baseplane design and component testing, including verifying their neutron irradiation tolerance. The funds requested in the NSERC 2014 SAPES RTI competition would be used to construct and test a full-scale prototype of the HEC baseplane. The funds requested in this RTI application are required in Fiscal Year 2014-2015 for continued Canadian leadership in ATLAS upgrades. The majority of the capital and labour costs for project completion will be requested from the Canada Foundation for Innovation in the upcoming competition.

随着对希格斯玻色子的观测，欧洲核子研究中心（CERN）大型强子对撞机（Large Hadron Collider）上ATLAS的未来物理项目正在成为焦点。除了对这种新发现的粒子的耦合和其他特性的精确测量之外，建立新的tev尺度的电弱物理来稳定希格斯真空的动机仍然很强。在最近的战略规划中，未来的LHC项目被确认为欧洲粒子物理的重中之重，LHC和ATLAS的未来运行是安全的。ATLAS探测器需要升级，以便在未来几年以预期的不断增加的能量和速率运行，并且保持加拿大对ATLAS的参与，包括加拿大参与ATLAS探测器升级计划。加拿大团队目前正专注于近期的两个“第一阶段”ATLAS升级：(i)为新型μ子端盖“小轮”建造、测试和安装高速率薄间隙室（sTGC），以及（ii）为液态氩量热计（LAr）触发器设计、组装、测试和安装升级后的前端电子设备。这两种升级都是为了允许ATLAS在低轻子（介子和电子）触发横向动量阈值的情况下运行，这对于研究希格斯粒子和寻找新的电弱尺度物理过程（如超对称、额外维度）至关重要，或者更一般地说，可以解释暗物质的本质并帮助稳定希格斯真空的物理过程。加拿大的sTGC计划包括为ATLAS建造三分之一的sTGC室，即64个“四胞胎”。加拿大的三个基地包括：(1)基于triumf的阴极制备和碳/环氧树脂喷涂设施，以确保腔室内壁的精确电阻层涂层；(2)基于卡尔顿的电线绕组和腔室组装设备，完成燃气和高压应用的四联；(3)麦吉尔实验室宇宙射线测试设施，以确保加拿大建造的实验室在运往欧洲核子研究中心之前功能齐全。用于腔室建设和测试的实验室基础设施的很大一部分是用NSERC RTI奖从2013年的竞赛中获得的资金购买的，以及用于原型腔室建设的材料。大部分剩余的实验室基础设施，加上初始的腔室建筑材料，将由NSERC RTI在2014年竞标中申请的资金购买，使我们能够在ATLAS要求的时间范围内增加我们的腔室生产设施。加拿大LAr电子公司的项目包括为加拿大制造的强子端盖量热计（HEC）设计、制作原型和建造新的前端板条基板。我们还将为该项目设计、构建和测试模拟电子器件的几个部分，并为电路板购买ADC组件。2013年NSERC RTI奖励资金用于初始基面设计和组件测试，包括验证其中子辐照耐受性。NSERC 2014 SAPES RTI竞赛申请的资金将用于构建和测试HEC基板的全尺寸原型。这份RTI申请中要求的资金将在2014-2015财年用于加拿大在ATLAS升级方面的持续领导。在即将到来的竞赛中，项目完成的大部分资本和劳动力成本将由加拿大创新基金会提供。