UNIVERSITY OF CATANIA

Experimental Methods in Nuclear Physics (6 CFU)

Academic Year 2016/2017

Prof. F.Riggi

Reconstruction of collision events

Kinematics of a nuclear collision – The low energy and light particle case – Three-body processes – Multibody collisions – Study of the final state – Kinematical variables in high energy nuclear and particle physics – Rapidity, pseudorapidity, transverse momentum and transverse mass – Transformation of variables – Kinematical acceptance - Reconstruction of decaying particles – Dalitz plots - Invariant mass spectra and identification of decaying particles – Armenteros-Podolanski plot - Background evaluation – Methods and algorithms for background subtraction in high multiplicity events - Event mixing techniques, track rotation, like-sign methods – Event generators for pp and heavy ion collisions – Use of event generators in nuclear physics - Event characterization – Centrality of collision events – Reaction plane and its determination.

General properties of particle detectors in nuclear physics experiments

Particle detection in nuclear physics – General properties: operating strategies, signal information, calibration, energy, space and time resolution – Energy measurements – Timing measurements – Geometrical acceptance – Detector efficiency – Simulation techniques for the evaluation of acceptance and efficiency – Basic phenomenology of a nuclear collision - Charged particle multiplicity at low energy, intermediate energy and ultrarelativistic regimes – Individual detectors and multidetectors – Typical examples of multidetectors at intermediate energies – Examples of multidetectors at high energy - Tracking detectors - Vertex detectors – Detectors for particle identification.

Adavanced detection techniques

Recent developments in gas detectors – Drift chambers – Time Projection Chambers - Multigap resistive plate chambers– Development of silicon detectors – Microstrip detectors – Silicon drift detectors – Hybrid and monolithic pixel detectors – Silicon vertex detectors –Radiation damage in silicon detectors – Cerenkov Ring Detectors – Electromagnetic and hadronic calorimeters – Transition radiation Detectors - Scintillation detectors with wavelength shifter fibers – Development in photosensors: Avalanche photodiodes and Silicon photomultipliers.

Methods for data acquisition and analysis

Multiparametric data acquisition systems – Multiparametric analysis - Trigger design and event selection – Event filtering – Digital pulse processing for particle detectors – Pattern recognition methods – Hough transform – Tracking methods – Track recognition and reconstruction – Primary and secondary vertex finding – Kalman Filter method – Shower analysis for calorimeters – Shape analysis – Jet reconstruction.

Statistical methods and simulation techniques

Probability distributions of interest in nuclear physics – Statistical methods in nuclear physics – Monte Carlo methods and application to nuclear physics – Simulation of physical processes and detector response – Implementation and use of simulation codes – The GEANT tool – Examples and applications in nuclear physics and related areas – Artificial neural networks – Applications in nuclear physics: particle identification, tracking, signal reconstruction, forecast methods.

Useful references for the topics discussed will be provided along the lectures.