Electron identification and hadron discrimination using Cherenkov radiation in air and SiPMs

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel method for electron identification and hadron discrimination leveraging Cherenkov radiation detected by SiPMs, demonstrating high accuracy and rejection rates across various momenta.

Contribution

It presents a photon-counting approach using SiPMs and a simple Monte Carlo simulation to effectively distinguish electrons from hadrons in a test beam environment.

Findings

High electron identification efficiency

Strong pion/hadron rejection achieved

Method effective over wide momentum range

Abstract

This paper presents a method to identify electrons using the Cherenkov light emitted when a charged particle travels in air and photons are detected with a Silicon PhotoMultiplier (SiPM). The analysis is based on a photon-counting approach using SPAD cells and uses data collected during a test beam at CERN PS. The results are well described by a simple Monte Carlo simulation, which further demonstrates that a very good electron identification and a strong pion/hadron rejection could be obtained over a wide momentum range.