Perspectives of a Midrapidity Dimuon Program at RHIC: A Novel and Compact Muon Telescope Detector

• Published in: arXiv.org
• Main Authors: Ruan, L, Lin, G, Z Xu, Asselta, K, Chen, H F, Christie, W, Crawford, H J, Engelage, J, Eppley, G, Hallman, T J, C Li, Liu, J, Llope, W J, Majka, R, Nussbaum, T, Scheblein, J, Shao, M, Soja, R, Sun, Y, Tang, Z, Wang, X, Wang, Y
• Format: Paper Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ithaca Cornell University Library, arXiv.org 17.07.2009
• Subjects: Cosmic rays; Energy dissipation; Ionization; Muons; Pair production; Physics - Nuclear Experiment; Radiation counters; Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider; Resistive plate chambers; Sensors; Spatial resolution; Telescopes; Transverse momentum
• ISSN: 2331-8422
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.0904.3774

We propose a large-area, cost-effective Muon Telescope Detector (MTD) for the Solenoidal Tracker at RHIC (STAR) at mid-rapidity and for the next generation of detectors at a possible electron-ion collider. We utilize Multi-gap Resistive Plate Chambers with large modules and long readout strips (Long-MRPC) in the detector design. The results from cosmic ray and beam tests show the intrinsic timing and spatial resolution for a Long-MRPC are 60-70 ps and \(\sim1\) cm, respectively. The prototype performance of such a novel muon telescope detector at STAR indicates that muon identification at the transverse momentum of a few GeV/\(c\) can be achieved through the combined information of track matching with the MTD, ionization energy loss in the Time Projection Chamber, and time-of-flight measurements. A primary muon over secondary muon ratio of better than 1/3 can be achieved. This provides a promising device for future quarkonium programs and primordial dilepton measurements at RHIC. Simulations of the muon efficiency, the signal-to-background ratio of \(J/\psi\), the separation of \(\Upsilon\) 1S from 2S+3S states, and the electron-muon correlation from charm pair production in the RHIC environment are presented.