TRANSLATE -- A Monte Carlo Simulation of Electron Transport in Liquid Argon

TL;DR

This paper introduces TRANSLATE, a new Monte Carlo simulation tool for electron transport in liquid argon, crucial for designing and calibrating large-scale liquid argon neutrino detectors with improved microphysics modeling.

Contribution

The paper presents a comprehensive, validated Monte Carlo simulation that models all relevant electron scattering processes in liquid argon, enhancing detector microphysics understanding.

Findings

Simulation accurately reproduces experimental swarm parameters.

TRANSLATE models full electron scattering processes including ionization.

Validated against data from gas and liquid argon experiments.

Abstract

The microphysics of electron and photon propagation in liquid argon is a key component of detector design and calibrations needed to construct and perform measurements within a wide range of particle physics experiments. As experiments grow in scale and complexity, and as the precision of their intended measurements increases, the development of tools to investigate important microphysics effects impacting such detectors becomes necessary. In this paper we present a new time-domain Monte Carlo simulation of electron transport in liquid argon. The simulation models the TRANSport in Liquid Argon of near-Thermal Electrons (TRANSLATE) with the aim of providing a multi-purpose software package for the study and optimization of detector environments, with a particular focus on ongoing and next generation liquid argon neutrino experiments utilizing the time projection chamber technology. TRANSLATE builds on previous work of Wojcik and Tachiya, amongst others, introducing additional cross-section processes up to ionization, thus modeling the full range of drift electron scattering interactions. The simulation is validated by benchmarking its performance with swarm parameters from data collected in experimental setups operating in gas and liquid.