Cílem bakalářské práce bude seznámení se s fyzikou těžkých kvarků na experimentech na LHC a RHIC . Student se bude zabývat studiem produkce těžkých kvarků v jadro-jaderných srážkách.  Student/Studentka by analyzoval/a experimentální ůdaje z experimentu ALICE (s využitím muonového detektoru) nebo z experimentu  STAR (D mezony v p+p zrážkách).

[1] Tang, ZB., Zha, WM. & Zhang, YF. An experimental review of open heavy flavor and quarkonium production at RHIC. NUCL SCI TECH 31, 81 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41365-020-00785-8

ALICE is one of the LHC experiments being upgraded to be prepared for the Run-3 of the LHC. The new conditions of high luminosity and increased interaction rate requires an important upgrade in the detectors and systems of ALICE. One of the detectors upgraded is the AD detector [1]. The AD detector will be replaced for the Forward Diffractive Detector (FDD)[2], which implements improvements in the quality of the materials used for the construction.
One of the key components that are part of the FDD detector are the PMTs. These are used to readout the light produced by the plastic scintillator detector and due the high radiation environment where FDD is installed, it needs to be monitored and calibrated constantly. Therefore, a Laser Calibration System will be installed to perform that task. The implementation of a trustworthy method to accurately monitor the status of the PMTs , to equalize the gain and compensate the losses of efficiency during the Run-3 of the LHC.
The work will be based in to improve the method for the single-photoelectron calibration [3] of the FDD PMTs and can be extended to implement the simulation of the PMTs response. The student will be also be involved in the commissioning and operation of the detector installed in the ALICE experiment.

Literatura / reference: 

[1] DOI: 10.1088/1748-0221/16/01/P01017
[2] DOI: https://doi.org/10.22323/1.382.0221
[3] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2017.02.086

The ALICE detector is undergoing an upgrade that will allow for data taking capabilities at least a factor 10 larger than in the past. Two of the new detectors to be installed and commissioned in ALICE during 2021 are the FDD and the MFT. The first is based on plastic scintillators, wave-length shifters and photomultiplier tubes, the second on innovating silicon-pixel-sensor technology. Our group is leading the effort to build the FDD and has a strong participation in the MFT. The student will get familiar with the technology involved in these detectors and will participate in their construction, testing, installation and commissioning. These detectors will play a key role in the next generation of measurements designed to study the dynamics of the innermost structure of nuclear matter, that is expected to enter a new regime called saturation. The intimate knowledge of the detectors will leave the student in an excellent position to later on analyze the data to be taken by ALICE to gain new insights the behavior of the high-energy limit of QCD. The student will be a member of a strong local group comprising students at all levels (bachelor, diploma, doctorate) as well as profiting from the help and advice of all the more senior members of the team. 

1. Upgrade of the ALICE Experiment: Letter Of Intent, ALICE Collaboration, J.Phys. G41 (2014) 087001

2. C. Grupen, B. Shwartz, Particle detectors, Cambridge University Press, 2011

3. G. F. Knoll, Radiation detection and measurement, John Willey and Sons, 2010

4. Ultra-peripheral heavy-ion collisions at the LHC, Contreras, J. G. and Tapia Takaki, J. D., Int.J.Mod.Phys. A30 (2015) 1542012