Simulation study of particle identification using cluster counting technique for the BESIII drift chamber

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates through simulation that the cluster counting technique enhances particle identification, especially K/pi separation, in the BESIII drift chamber above 1.2 GeV/c, offering improved efficiency over traditional methods.

Contribution

The study introduces a simulation-based evaluation of the cluster counting technique for particle ID in BESIII, showing significant improvements over conventional dE/dx methods.

Findings

K/pi separation power is significantly improved above 1.2 GeV/c.

Cluster counting technique reduces fluctuation compared to traditional dE/dx.

PID efficiency is notably increased with the new method.

Abstract

The particle identification of charged hadrons, especially for the separation of $K$ and $\pi$, is crucial for the flavour physics study. Ionization measurement with the cluster counting technique, which has much less fluctuation than traditional $dE/dx$ measurement, is expected to provide better particle identification for the BESIII experiment. Simulation studies, including a Garfield++ based waveform analysis and a performance study of K/\pi identification in the BESIII, offline software system have been performed. The results show that $K/\pi$ separation power and PID efficiency would be improved significantly in the momentum range above 1.2 GeV/c using cluster counting technique even with conservative resolution assumption.