The MoEDAL Experiment at the Large hadron Collider

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In 2010 the MoEDAL experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) started data taking in June 2015. MoEDAL is a pioneering experiment designed to search for highly ionizing avatars of new physics such as magnetic monopoles or massive (pseudo-)stable charged particles. Its groundbreaking physics program defines over 34 scenarios that yield potentially revolutionary insights into such foundational questions as: are there extra dimensions or new symmetries; what is the mechanism for the generation of mass; does magnetic charge exist; what is the nature of dark matter; and, how did the big-bang develop. MoEDAL's purpose is to meet these challenges at the frontier of the field. The MoEDAL detector deployed at Point 8 (IP8) on the LHC ring late in 2014 utilizes an innovative and cost-effective combination of passive and active detection techniques. The MoEDAL experiment is led by the University of Alberta and now consists of 65 physicists from 25 institutes in 13 countries. MoEDAL physics program is designed to expand the physics horizons of the LHC in a complementary way. The innovative and largely passive MoEDAL detector has a dual nature. First, it acts like a giant camera, comprised of Nuclear Track Detectors (NTDs) - analyzed offline by "smart" ultra fast Optical Scanning Microscopes (OSMs)- sensitive only to new physics. Second, it is uniquely able to trap the particle messengers of new physics for further study. The third and only active sub-detector system is the TimePix pixel device array (TMPX), consisting of ~8 devices distributed around the MoEDAL cavern at IP8. TMPX will be used to monitor highly ionizing beam related backgrounds. The MoEDAL experiment is completely different from other LHC experiments. The MoEDAL NTD and MMT arrays are passive requiring no readout electronics, HV, gas supply or trigger. The TMPX system is readout over the web. Thus, there is no requirement to constantly man the detector. However, the sensitive elements of the MoEDAL need to be replaced at least one a year, depending on beam backgrounds. The NTD detectors are etched and then analysed by a farm of “smart” ultrafast OSMs. The exposed MMT volumes are scanned at a SQUID facility for the presence of trapped magnetic charge and then moved to an underground facility to be monitored for the decay of very long lived electrically charged particles. MoEDAL NTDs are calibrated using a heavy-ion beam provided by the Brookhaven National Laboratory. The first installation of the MoEDAL detector volumes was achieved in the winter of 2014-15. The exposed test NTD tracking and trapping volumes have been analysed with the first physics publications expected by December 2015. MoEDAL started to take data for the first time in June 2015 after the long LHC shutdown. The sensitive detector volumes will be replaced once or perhaps twice a year - depending on beam backgrounds at IP8 - for each of roughly 5 years of running required to obtain 10 fb-1.