Real-time calibration and alignment of the LHCb RICH detectors

TL;DR

This paper discusses the real-time calibration and alignment procedures for the LHCb RICH detectors, ensuring optimal particle identification and system stability during data collection.

Contribution

It presents the methods and results of real-time calibration and alignment of the RICH detectors, a novel approach for maintaining detector performance during operation.

Findings

Stable RICH performance achieved during data taking

Effective calibration of the refractive index and detector images

Maintained high particle identification accuracy

Abstract

In 2015, the LHCb experiment established a new and unique software trigger strategy with the purpose of increasing the purity of the signal events by applying the same algorithms online and offline. To achieve this, real-time calibration and alignment of all LHCb sub-systems is needed to provide vertexing, tracking, and particle identification of the best possible quality. The calibration of the refractive index of the RICH radiators, the calibration of the Hybrid Photon Detector image, and the alignment of the RICH mirror system, are reported in this contribution. The stability of the RICH performance and the particle identification performance are also discussed.