Commissioning of equipment and preparation of software of the ALICE experiment on LHC at CERN

aim of project
The aim of the project is participation in commissioning measurement equipment and preparation of software dedicated to issues which, according to the division of tasks in the ALICE experiment, were given to the team from Warsaw University of Technology. (The ALICE experiment is an immense undertaking; ca. 1000 physicists and engineers from 70 institutions and 30 countries take part in this project.) The WUT team participates in the construction of the T0 detector, i.e. a system whose task is to send a signal starting the whole complex of the measurement equipment of the ALICE detector. In this project, the WUT team uses elements of data acquisition and operation control of scintillation detectors. Another task of the WUT team is to keep a database system with information on the construction of the whole ALICE detector (Detector Construction Data Base, DCDB) ready. This large project was fully elaborated earlier by the WUT team and its realization was conducted by employees and students of the Faculties of: Physics, Electronics (EiTI) and Mathematics (MiNI). Another task is preparation of software for analysis of correlation of particles (hadrons) emitted at low relative speeds in events which will be registered by the ALICE detector. Correlations of particles in the kinematic area of low relative speeds provide information on the time-spatial course of heavy ions collision. This is extremely valuable physical information but such measurements are exceptionally difficult and
require solving many problems of methodical nature, which is another task of the WUT team and another aim of the project.

expected results
The realization of the above mentioned tasks is the contribution of the WUT team to the construction of the ALICE detector and to analysis of data which will be obtained after starting the accelerator (collider) LHC (Large Hadron Collider) at CERN laboratory. As a result, WUT employees, Ph.D. students and undergraduates will have access to unique experimental data and will participate in a research program on fundamental issues of the structure of matter and evolution of the universe. A natural consequence will be participation in scientific publications and preparation of Ph.D. and habilitation dissertations, i.e. education of high-skilled staff in the areas of physics, information technology and electronics.