Christian Holm Christensen

Title: ALICE Forward Multiplicity Detector From Design to Installation

A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy on December, 2007.

Niels Bohr Institute
Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen

Supervisor:
Jens Jørgen Gaardhøje

Preface

ALICE Forward Multiplicity Detector From Design to Installation

In the Alice Technical Proposal [1] a forward detector based on Micro{Channel Plate (MCP) sensors was proposed to provide charged particle multiplicity measurements and trigger information. However, quoting the Alice Forward Detectors Technical Design Report (TDR) [2] The MCP option would have been a novel and elegant way to build a forward detector system, but it was realized that it would have required substantial funds and a major R&D e ort and that, the desired functionality could be achieved with existing and
proved technologies based on Cherenkov radiators, scintillators, and Si-strip detectors.

This led to the division into the T0, the V0 and the FMD, for convenience named the Forward Detectors (FWD). These systems provide di erent functionalities, but also to some extent functional overlap and complementarity, which is considered an advantage for Alice.

This thesis summarises my work over the past 4 years on the Alice Forward Multiplicity Detector, starting as a technical editor of the FWD TDR, and ending with the installation of 4/5 of the FMD detector in the Alice experimental hall. During these past 4 years, I have been in contact with virtually all parts of the FMD, ranging from hardware design and testing to implementation of analysis software and simulated data analysis.

From January 2005 up to the summer of that same year, the premises, requirements, and design of the FMD was formulated as part of the preparation of the FWD Technical Design Report. For me, it provided an opportunity to acquaint my self with the Alice experiment and to provide input into the design process through simulations of the detector and software expertise.