Upgrade of the ATLAS detector at the LHC (2023-26)
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Cambridge
Department Name: Physics
Abstract
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People |
ORCID iD |
| Christopher Lester (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Aad G
(2024)
The ATLAS trigger system for LHC Run 3 and trigger performance in 2022
in Journal of Instrumentation
| Description | ATLAS Collaboration |
| Organisation | ATLAS Experiment |
| Country | Switzerland |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | This Cambridge grant is a component part of a wider UK project (involving around 10 UK institutes -- see linked project) which itself is a UK contribution to the ATLAS Collaboration which owns/runs the experiment in CERN we are collectively upgrading. |
| Collaborator Contribution | This grant has supported Cambridge to build the L1Calo ROD, to build ITK Strip Modules, and to perform ITK Sensor QC and AQ . The L1Calo ROD s a high-speed device which collects trigger information and data from the calorimeter(s), processes and, reformats it, and then passes it to systems higher up. It is an integral part of the ATLAS trigger system -- or rather the NEW trigger system that ATLAS has installed to cope with the new high-luminosity running period. The ITK Strip sensors are the components of the new Tracker that ATLAS needs to replace the old SCT and TRT detectors which have reached end of life. |
| Impact | Discovery of the Higgs boson. Precision test of the Standard Model and refinements of its model parameters. Discovery of new hadrons/baryons within the Standard Model. The exclusion of many proposed models of new physics (such as, but not only, many which might have explained dark matter). |
| Title | Assembled ATLAS ITK Barrel Modules |
| Description | These silicon strip modules items of hardware that the group is building on behalf of the ATLAS collaboration and which will form the main active component of the future ITK tracker of the ATLAS experiment. Approx three other institutes make them and work with Cambridge. Cambridge was the first institute to be qualified as a builder of these modules (mid 2023). However, all institutes have stopped building them in the last 6 months due to a cracking issue that is being investigated at an international level. |
| Type Of Technology | Physical Model/Kit |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Impact | Without these silicon modules, the ATLAS inner tracker (ITk) would be unable to function. When that tracker works, it will extend the lifetime of the ATLAS experiment by another ~20 years. |
| URL | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168900222008890 |
| Title | L1Calo ROD |
| Description | This is an electronics readout board which allows the ATLAS experiment's calorimeter to trigger properly when the LHC runs at high luminosity. Its development was supported by this grant. It was commissioned in 2023. |
| Type Of Technology | Physical Model/Kit |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Impact | The ATLAS experiment is now able to run at high luminosity. Without it, ATLAS could not take data from the LHC. |
| URL | https://pos.sissa.it/398/754 |
| Description | HEP Masterclass |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Each year (except during Covid) we invite ~15 schools to each bring ~20 students to our group to learn about particle physics (both in general, and specicfically about the work we do). Each group of students visits about 6-8 "stations", each lasting about half an hour, in which they participate in or learn about some activity,. That's about 300 students per year. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018,2019,2020,2023,2024,2025 |
| URL | https://www.hep.phy.cam.ac.uk/Masterclass |