PANDA experiment - A cool delivery from Bochum

The Chair of Experimental Hadron Physics (EP 1) at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum plays a leading role in the development and construction of the forward end cap of the PANDA electromagnetic calorimeter.

The PANDA experiment (Anti-Proton Annihilation at Darmstadt) is one of the key experiments at the accelerator facility FAIR (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research). Here, collisions of antiprotons in a momentum range between 1.5 GeV/? and 15 GeV/? with protons are investigated. The PANDA detector is a versatile detector with precise track reconstruction and the ability to detect neutral as well as charged particles. The physics program of the PANDA experiment includes basic research in various topics related to the strong and weak force. More than 460 scientists from 75 institutes in 19 countries are working as members of the PANDA collaboration to gain new insights into the search for and investigation of exotic states (hybrids, glueballs), the hyperon-hyperon interaction and double hyper-nuclei, as well as electromagnetic processes.

The forward end cap will be fully tested at the Cooler Synchrotron, or COSY, in Jülich before being used at the antiproton accelerator at FAIR in Darmstadt. The hall in Darmstadt, where PANDA will be located, is currently not yet completed. In order to be able to assemble the forward end cap within the planned time frame, the assembly of the forward end cap with the installation of all submodules will take place in Jülich.

The PANDA electromagnetic calorimeter is cooled down to -25 °C in order to improve the light yield of the PbWO₄ scintillation crystals. The components required for this (cooling unit, coolant pump, heat exchanger, etc.), which were developed in cooperation with the Institut de Physique Nucléaire Orsay, were brought to Forschungszentrum Jülich in week 7 and set up there close to the (blue) mounting frame of the forward end cap.