J. Naumann

A fast high resolution track trigger for the H1 experiment

After 2001 the upgraded ep collider HERA will provide an about five times higher luminosity for the two experiments H1 and ZEUS. In order to cope with the expected higher event rates the H1 collaboration is building a track based trigger system, the Fast Track Trigger (FTT). It will be integrated in the first three levels (L1–L3) of the H1 trigger scheme to provide higher selectivity for events with charged particles. The FTT will allow to reconstruct 3-dimensional tracks in the central drift chamber down to 100 MeV/c within the L2 latency of ∼23 μs. To reach the necessary momentum resolution of ∼5% (at 1 GeV/c) sophisticated reconstruction algorithms have to be implemented using high density Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) and their embedded Content Addressable Memories (CAM). The final track parameter optimization will be done using non-iterative fits implemented in DSPs. While at the first trigger level rough track information will be provided, at L2 tracks with high resolution are available to form trigger decisions on topological and other track based criteria like multiplicities and momenta. At the third trigger level a farm of commercial processor boards will be used to compute physics quantities such as invariant masses. Keywords— Trigger, Fast Track Trigger, Track Trigger, FPGA, Content Addressable Memory, CAM, DSP, H1 Collaboration, HERA ColliderAfter 2001, the upgraded ep collider HERA will provide an about five times higher luminosity for the two experiments H1 and ZEUS. To cope with the expected higher event rates, the H1 collaboration is building a track-based trigger system, the Fast Track Trigger (FTT). It will be integrated in the first three levels (L1-L3) of the H1 trigger scheme to provide higher selectivity for events with charged particles. The FTT will allow reconstruction of three-dimensional tracks in the central drift chamber down to 100 MeV/c within the L2 latency of /spl sim/23 /spl mu/s. To reach the necessary momentum resolution of /spl sim/5% (at 1 GeV/c), sophisticated reconstruction algorithms have to be implemented using high-density field-programmable gate arrays and their embedded content addressable memories. The final track parameter optimization will be done using noniterative fits implemented in digital signal processors. While at the first trigger level rough track information will be provided, at L2 tracks with high resolution are available to form trigger decisions on topological and other track-based criteria like multiplicities and momenta. At the third trigger level, a farm of commercial processor boards will be used to compute physics quantities such as invariant masses.

Performance of the H1 fast track trigger - operation and commissioning results

The H1 experiment at the electron-proton collider HERA has built a new fast track trigger to increase the selectivity for exclusive final states, especially those with heavy quarks, and to cope with the higher background rates after the HERA luminosity upgrade. Hits measured in the central jet chamber of H1 are combined to track segments by performing 5 middot 1012 mask comparisons per second using content addressable memories (CAMs). These segments are collected and transmitted via 5 Gbit/s LVDS links to custom made multipurpose processing boards, where they get linked and reconstructed to three dimensional tracks within 20 mus. On the third level resonances are identified in 100 mus by a farm of PowerPC boards. Since 2005 the FTT level one has replaced the existing drift chamber trigger and is the major track trigger of the H1 experiment. In order to further increase the selectivity the second level has started to operate. First analyses of the data show that also the second level fulfills the design specifications

A Purity Monitoring System for the H1 Liquid Argon Calorimeter

The ionization probes used for monitoring the liquid argon purity in the H1 calorimeter are described and results of their operation in tests at CERN and during the period 1992 to the end of 1998 at HERA are given. The high sensitivity of the charge measurements leads to refined charge collection models, and to the observation of a variation of the ionization yield of our electron sources with temperature.The ionization probes used for monitoring the liquid argon purity in the H1 calorimeter are described and results of their operation in tests at CERN and during the period 1992 to the end of 1998 at HERA are given. The high sensitivity of the charge measurements leads to refined charge collection models, and to the observation of a variation of the ionization yield of our electron sources with temperature.

First Results from the Third Level of the H1 Fast Track Trigger

To make the best possible use of the higher luminosity provided by the upgraded HERA collider, the H1 collaboration has built the Fast Track Trigger (FTT). It is integrated in the first three levels (L1-L3) of the H1 trigger scheme and provides enhanced selectivity for events with charged particles. The FTT allows the reconstruction of tracks in the central drift chambers down to 100 MeV. Within the 2.3 mus latency of the first trigger level coarse two dimensional track information in the plane transverse to the beam is provided. At the second trigger level (20 mus latency), high resolution, three dimensional tracks are reconstructed. Trigger decisions are derived from track momenta, multiplicities and topologies. At the third trigger level a farm of commercial PowerPC boards allows a partial event reconstruction. Within the L3 latency of 100 mus exclusive final states (e.g. D*,J/psi) are identified using track based invariant mass calculations. In addition an on-line particle identification of electrons and muons with additional information from other subdetectors is performed. First results obtained from the third level, which is fully operational since 2006, are presented.