ATLAS Upgrades Towards the High Luminosity LHC:extending the discovery potential

After successful LHC operation at the center-of-mass energy of 7 and 8 TeV in 2011 and 2012, plans are actively advancing for a series of upgrades, culminating roughly 10 years from now in the high luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) project, delivering of order five times the LHC nominal instantaneous luminosity along with luminosity levelling. The final goal is to extend the data set from about few hundred fb−1 expected for LHC running to 3000 fb−1 by around 2030. Current planning in ATLAS also has significant upgrades to the detector during the consolidation of the LHC to reach full LHC energy and further upgrades to accommodate running already beyond nominal luminosity this decade. The challenge of coping with HL-LHC instantaneous and integrated luminosity, along with the associated radiation levels, requires further major changes to the ATLAS detector. The designs are developing rapidly for an all-new inner-tracker, significant upgrades in the calorimeter and muon systems, as well as improved triggers and data acquisition. This document summarises the various improvements to the ATLAS detector required to cope with the anticipated evolution of the LHC instantaneous luminosity during this decade and the next.