D. G. Underwood

Polarized proton collider at RHIC

Abstract In addition to heavy ion collisions (RHIC Design Manual, Brookhaven National Laboratory), RHIC will also collide intense beams of polarized protons (I. Alekseev, et al., Design Manual Polarized Proton Collider at RHIC, Brookhaven National Laboratory, 1998 [2]), reaching transverse energies where the protons scatter as beams of polarized quarks and gluons. The study of high energy polarized protons beams has been a long term part of the program at BNL with the development of polarized beams in the Booster and AGS rings for fixed target experiments. We have extended this capability to the RHIC machine. In this paper we describe the design and methods for achieving collisions of both longitudinal and transverse polarized protons in RHIC at energies up to s =500 GeV .

The STAR endcap electromagnetic calorimeter

The STAR endcap electromagnetic calorimeter will provide full azimuthal coverage for high-pT photons, electrons and electromagnetically decaying mesons over the pseudorapidity range 1.086⩽η⩽2.00. It includes a scintillating-strip shower-maximum detector to provide π0/γ discrimination and preshower and postshower layers to aid in distinguishing between electrons and charged hadrons. The triggering capabilities and coverage it offers are crucial for much of the spin physics program to be carried out in polarized proton–proton collisions.

The design and performance of the FNAL high-energy polarized beam facility

We describe a new polarized-proton and -antiproton beam with 185-GeV/c momentum in the Fermilab MP beam line which is currently operational. The design uses the parity-conserving decay of lambda and antilambda hyperons to produce polarized protons and antiprotons, respectively. A beam-transport system minimizes depolarization effects and uses a set of 12 dipole magnets that rotate the beam-particle spin direction. A beam-tagging system determines the momentum and polarization of individual beam particles, allowing a selection of particles in definite intervals at momentum and polarization. We measured polarization of the beam by using two types of polarimeters, which verified the determination of polarization by a beam-particle tagging system. Two of these processes are the inverse-Primakoff effect and the Coulomb-nuclear interference (CNI) in elastic proton-proton scattering. Another experiment measured the {pi}{sup 0} production asymmetry of large-x{sub F} values; this process may now be used as an on-line beam polarimeter. 9 refs., 9 figs.

New prototype multi-gap resistive plate chambers with long strips

A new kind of Multi-gap Resistive Plate Chamber (MRPC) has been built for the large-area Muon Telescope Detector (MTD) for the STAR experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). These long read-out strip Multi-gap Resistive Plate Chambers (LMRPCs) have an active area of 87.0 � 17.0 cm 2 and ten 250mm-thick gas gaps arranged as a double stack. Each read-out strip is 2.5 cm wide and 90 cm long. The signals are read-out at both ends of each strip. Cosmic ray tests indicate a time resolution of � 70 ps and a detection efficiency of greater than 95%. Beam tests performed at T963 at Fermilab indicate a time resolution of 60–70 ps and a spatial resolution of � 1 cm along the strip direction. & 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The forward GEM tracker of STAR at RHIC

The STAR experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) is in the process of designing and constructing a forward tracking system based on triple GEM technology. This upgrade is necessary to give STAR the capability to reconstruct and identify the charge sign of W bosons over an extended rapidity range through their leptonic decay mode into an electron (positron) and a neutrino. This will allow a detailed study of the flavor-separated spin structure of the proton in polarized p + p collisions uniquely available at RHIC. The Forward GEM Tracker FGT will consist of six triple GEM disks with an outer radius of ∼39 cm and an inner radius of ∼10.5 cm, arranged along the beam pipe, covering the pseudo-rapidity range from 1.0 to 2.0 over a wide range of collision vertices. The GEM foils will be produced by Tech-Etch, Inc. Beam tests with test detectors using 10 cm × 10 cm Tech-Etch GEM foils and a two dimensional orthogonal strip readout have demonstrated a spatial resolution of 70 μm or better and high efficiency.

RPC investigation using finely spaced 2-D strip readout

RPCs are in use for many high energy physics applications where there is no need for fine spatial resolution. However, there are applications such as digital calorimetry where the dimension of the induced charge at pick-up pads is of interest. Such calorimetry is proposed for eg, Particle flow calorimetrey at the ILC. While there are both experiments and calculations which address this to some extent, we have been able to read out a single gap RPC using fine pitch laser etched two-dimensional strip readout as used in GEM tracking. This measurement was made in the Fermilab test beam in conjunction with the GEM tracking test for the STAR upgrade. We discuss both data and electrostatic simulations of the signal from a single gap glass RPC.

An electromagnetic calorimeter for the solenoidal tracker at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider

In this document, we outline a proposal to the National Science Foundation (NSF) for the construction of an electromagnetic calorimeter for STAR that fulfills these requirements. This proposal creates the opportunity for the NSF to make a major impact on the experimental program at RHIC by providing a crucial, but defensibly omitted, component of the STAR experiment as approved.