eprintid: 15651
rev_number: 11
eprint_status: archive
userid: 864
dir: disk0/00/01/56/51
datestamp: 2013-11-04 12:30:48
lastmod: 2013-11-06 10:45:37
status_changed: 2013-11-04 12:30:48
type: doctoralThesis
metadata_visibility: show
creators_name: Lu, Xianguo
title: Exploring the performance limits of the ALICE Time Projection Chamber and Transition Radiation Detector for measuring identified hadron production at the LHC
subjects: 530
divisions: 130200
adv_faculty: af-13
abstract: The Time Projection Chamber (TPC) and Transition Radiation Detector (TRD) are the
main tracking and particle identification devices in the ALICE experiment at the CERN
LHC. This thesis studies aspects of their performance beyond the original designs. This
includes extending the TPC momentum measurement for cosmic rays to sub-TeV scale,
investigating a robust identification method for electrons and hadrons by the TRD, and
developing new approaches to characterize the TPC and TRD signals. These studies lead
to an intriguing observation of the transition radiation from sub-TeV cosmic muons, and
a universal method -- the TPC coherent fit -- to extract yields of different particle species
with momentum from 0.5 to above 20 GeV/c.

With the TPC coherent fit, transverse momentum spectra (0.6 < pt < 20 GeV/c) of pions,
kaons and protons at mid-rapidity (|y|<~0.8) in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 2.76 and 7 TeV and
Pb-Pb collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 2.76 TeV at the LHC are measured. In this unified approach
both the anomalous enhancement of the proton-to-pion ratio at moderate pt (2-8 GeV/c)
(the so-called baryon anomaly) and the nuclear modification of particle yields up to
high pt (> 10 GeV/c) in Pb-Pb collisions are observed. The particle production is also
studied in jets from pp collisions at 7 TeV and the results are well described by Perugia-0
tune of PYTHIA6.

date: 2013
id_scheme: DOI
id_number: 10.11588/heidok.00015651
ppn_swb: 1653050853
own_urn: urn:nbn:de:bsz:16-heidok-156515
date_accepted: 2013-10-22
advisor: HASH(0x564e1c56b660)
language: eng
bibsort: LUXIANGUOEXPLORINGT2013
full_text_status: public
citation:   Lu, Xianguo  (2013) Exploring the performance limits of the ALICE Time Projection Chamber and Transition Radiation Detector for measuring identified hadron production at the LHC.  [Dissertation]     
document_url: https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/15651/1/xglu_Dissertation_20130813.pdf