Resistive Plate Chamber Digitization in a Hadronic Shower Environment

TL;DR

This paper presents a detailed simulation and digitization algorithm for a Glass Resistive Plate Chamber-based calorimeter, demonstrating good agreement with experimental data up to 50 GeV and analyzing discrepancies at higher energies.

Contribution

It introduces the SimDigital digitization algorithm for Resistive Plate Chamber calorimeters and validates it against experimental data from CERN tests.

Findings

Good agreement with data up to 50 GeV

Discrepancies at higher energies analyzed

Simulation method suitable for future experiments

Abstract

The CALICE Semi-Digital Hadron Calorimeter (SDHCAL) technological prototype is a sampling calorimeter using Glass Resistive Plate Chamber detectors with a three-threshold readout as the active medium. This technology is one of the two options proposed for the hadron calorimeter of the International Large Detector for the International Linear Collider. The prototype was exposed to beams of muons, electrons and pions of different energies at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron. To be able to study the performance of such a calorimeter in future experiments it is important to ensure reliable simulation of its response. In this paper we present our prototype simulation performed with GEANT4 and the digitization procedure achieved with an algorithm called SimDigital. A detailed description of this algorithm is given and the methods to determinate its parameters using muon tracks and electromagnetic showers are explained. The comparison with hadronic shower data shows a good agreement up to 50 GeV. Discrepancies are observed at higher energies. The reasons for these differences are investigated.