A Cherenkov Detector for Monitoring ATLAS Luminosity

LUCID (LUminosity Cherenkov Integrating Detector) is the monitor of the luminosity delivered by the LHC accelerator to the ATLAS experiment. The detector is made of two symmetric arms deployed at about 17 m from the ATLAS interaction point. Each arm consists of an aluminum vessel containing 20 tubes, 15 mm diameter and 1500 mm length, and a Cherenkov gaseous radiator (C4F10) at about 1.1 bar absolute. The light generated by charged particles above the Cherenkov threshold is collected by photomultiplier tubes (PMT) directly placed at the tubes end. Thanks to an intrinsically fast response and to its custom readout electronics, LUCID estimates the number of interactions per LHC bunch crossing and provides an interaction trigger to the ATLAS experiment. The relevant details of the detector design and the expexted performance based on Monte Carlo simulations are presented, together with the first results obtained with pp collisions produced by LHC.