Physics performance studies for the ALICE experiment at the CERN LHC

The ALICE experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will explore a primordial state of matter that existed in the early Universe. Resonance production at the LHC is of great interest in the study of the phase state of hadronic matter known as Quark Gluon Plasma (QGP). Results are presented on the prospects for φ (1020) meson production in pp collisions. A careful analysis of background subtraction methods with particular attention of φ meson production during the first physics run is also presented. A discussion about the discrepancies between different versions of the PYTHIA event generator in charged-particle multiplicity and its implications in φ production is given. An overview of the physics of strongly interacting matter at high energy densities, and the ALICE experimental apparatus is given. A description of the software development of the ALICE trigger system that allows the determination of transmission quality parameters of cables, and the results obtained from bit-error rate measurements are also given. A feasibility study of the electromagnetic process pp → ppe+e- is presented. Results of the potential backgrounds and signals after full reconstruction along with the trigger rate for such measurement of the luminosity is given.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

d_ph

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

d_ph

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Birmingham

Year dc:date.issued

2008

Author dc:creator

• Tapia Takaki, J. Daniel

• QC Physics