Hadron Detectors at GSI

Hadrons/Detectors     -    Leader:     Dr. Jochen Schwiening

The mission of the GSI hadron detectors group is the development and construction of DIRC counters for hadron physics experiments as well as the coordination of the German in-kind contributions to the PANDA experiment.

PANDA DIRC (Barrel)

We are responsible for the design and construction of the PANDA Barrel DIRC counter, a novel Ring Imaging Cherenkov counter that will provide charged hadron identification in the barrel section of the PANDA detector.

The design for the barrel DIRC is based on the successful BaBar DIRC detector with several key improvements, such as fast timing and a compact imaging system using focusing optics. The barrel DIRC project is in the final stage of the the R&D phase. Activities are focused on optimizing both the particle identification performance of the design and the overall system cost as well as validating the design using experimental data.

Our responsibilities include

  • measurement of the optical properties of DIRC radiator bars and plates
  • development of the simulation and reconstruction software
  • mechanical design of the barrel DIRC
  • test of the DIRC design using prototypes in particles beams
  • overall project management
DIRC-based PID for the EIC Central Detector

This DOE-supported R&D collaboration was formed in 2011 by several groups in the US and Germany, centered around the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (JLab), to explore the possible use of a barrel DIRC system in the central detector at the future electron-ion collider facility. We are responsible for the simulation and reconstruction framework and the construction and tests of a prototype for the compact imaging region. After the initial feasibility study (eRD4) provided a proof-of-principle for a high-performance DIRC design with significantly extended momentum coverage, the R&D entered into a new phase in 2015 when the focus shifted to design optimization and the study of the combined PID performance of the experiment by forming the PID Consortium for an integrated program for Particle Identification (PID) at a future Electron-Ion Collider (eRD14), a joint effort from 18 labs and universities.

DIRC Upgrade for the GlueX Experiment

In 2015 we joined the GlueX Collaboration at JLab to work on the R&D for the GlueX DIRC counter. Four of the bar boxes from the BaBar experiment will be transported to JLab in 2017 and installed in GlueX in 2017/2018 to provide upgraded PID for the GlueX high-intensity runs. Our activities are focused on the development of the simulation and reconstruction software with the goal of performing tests of the DIRC PID algorithms, developed for PANDA, on GlueX experiment data.


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