Optical readout for a Dual-Readout calorimeter

A particle detector at a collider experiment works fairly like a big digital camera, developing "pictures" of the particles coming out of the collision through the signals that they generate in the sensitive material. Like in a digital camera, an ultimate detector resolution is needed to be able to look at the fine details of these particle interactions. Indeed, our particle physics main theory is so finely developed, that we will need high resolution to spot tiny deviations from what the theory predicts, improving our knowledge.

A new concept of particle detector, a dual-readout calorimeter, promises to yield unprecedented resolution for the energy measurement of a very broad class of particles, known as hadrons. This energy resolution will allow us to distinguish different manifestations of, e.g., the Higgs boson, greatly increasing the knowledge we have about it, thus our ability to study it.
This project focuses on the development of a lab infrastructure to be able to contribute to key R&D for this innovative particle detector. In particular, it will study how much light the optical elements of the calorimeter can trap, and how well the timing of the energy deposits can be determined.