The ATLAS experiment situated at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in Switzerland is among the world's largest particle physics detectors. It investigates the fundamental building blocks of matter, and mysteries as dark matter and is famous for discoveries such as the Higgs boson. From 2026 onwards the LHC will be upgraded to be even more powerful (High-Luminosity LHC) and the ATLAS experiments will also be improved with new detectors and better luminosity measurements.
The pixel luminosity ring (PLR) at the ATLAS Experiment at CERN is a specialized ring-shaped arrangement of silicon pixel sensors designed for precise hit-counting and real-time monitoring of particle collision rates (luminosity) for better understanding of the physics results. It will be installed the forward region of the new Inner Tracker (ITK) pixel detector.
Two or more projects will be available:
A. Simulation and data analysis - The PLR detector will need to be read out, both during each step of construction and commissioning work as well as during first operation. The student will build the necessary software tools based on the existing framework including simulations of the PLR in operation. Typical milestones will be. M1. Refine simulations based on testbeam data M2. Analysis and quality control of data from tests during construction M3. Simulation of close to final operation
B. Construction of PLR and quality control - The PLR detectors consists of modules mounted on mechanical rings. They will be mounted and tested in Oslo. The student will be contributing to the construction process and the evaluation of the success of the construction and contributing to the integration of the PLR into ITK and the commissioning of the PLR. Typical milestones will be. M1. Optimise test-set up for commissioning M2. Establish system for detector control M3. Analysis of test data during construction M3. Construction of PLR rings, M4 Integration into ITK
If funding is available the student will get the opportunity to travel to CERN and possible also to the US for integration with ITK
The work will take place in the E-lab in close collaboration with the E-lab team and the I-lab.
The student should have the courses recommended by the program they plan to follow see FI web-pages, our recommended courses for particle physics are:
Etc.