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At least 469 records · Page 26

CHARACTERIZATION OF RADIATION DAMAGES TO POSITRON SOURCE MATERIALS

The secondary beam production target at future positron sources at the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF), the International Linear Collider (ILC) or the Future Circular Collider (FCC), features unprecedented mechanical and thermal stresses which may compromise sustainable and reliable operation. Candidate materials are required to possess high melting temperature together with excellent thermal conductivity, elasticity and radiation hardness properties. In order to substantiate the material choice for the CEBAF and ILC positron sources, the response of candidate materials such as titanium alloys, tungsten, and tantalum to electron beam irradiation was experimentally investigated. CEBAF and ILC expected operating conditions were mimicked using the 3.5 MeV electron beam of the MAMI facility injector. The material degradations were precisely analyzed via high energy X-ray diffraction at the HEMS beamline operated by the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon at the PETRA III synchrotron facility. This work reports the results of these measurements and their interpretation.

Lengler, T.↗

Beam correction for multi-pass arcs in FFA@CEBAF: status update

This work examines the multi-pass steering of six electron beams in an FFA arc ranging from approximately 10.5 GeV to 22 GeV. Shown here is an algorithm based on singular value decomposition (SVD) to successfully steer all six beams through the arc given precise knowledge of all beam positions at each of one hundred and one diagnostic locations with one hundred individual corrector magnets: that is successive application of SVD to different 100 × 101 response matrices—one for each beam energy. Further, a machine learning scheme is developed which only requires knowledge of the energy-averaged beam position at each location to provide equivalent steering. Extension of this scheme to other beam optics quantities as well as transverse and longitudinal coupling is explored.

Accelerator Physics↗

Deep Ensemble Confidence Levels for Multi-hot Categorization

NOICE (Neural Optical Image Categorizer for the Elog) is a small collaboration tasked with categorizing the images in the Fermilab Accelerator Division electronic logbook by using Artificial Intelligence. To do so, we manually categorized a subset of the images in the E-log into nine independent labels. Each image was then multi-hot-encoded into a nine-dimensional binary vector because each image could have more then one label.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Measurement of the Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering Cross Section from the Proton at 10.6 GeV using the CLAS12 Detector

Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering (DVCS) is an exclusive process that produces a real photon when a lepton scatters from a quark inside a nucleon or a nucleus. Measurement of the DVCS cross section enables the study of the Generalized Parton Distributions (GPD), which plays a central role in understanding the QCD dynamics inside a hadron. Thus, the quark and gluon origin of the nucleon spin and mass can be probed and three-dimensional images of the target nucleon or nucleus can be realized. This thesis presents a cross section analysis of DVCS from the proton in the presence of its background, Bethe-Heitler (BH) process. The CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer for operation at 12 GeV beam energy (CLAS12) collaboration has taken electron-proton scattering data in fall 2018 using a liquid hydrogen target and the 10.6 GeV polarized electron beam from the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF). The CLAS12 detector is a nearly hermetic fixed-target detector, located in Hall B, Jefferson Lab at Newport News, Virginia. The experimentally determined BH-DVCS cross section is in good agreement with a phenomenological-model based theoretical prediction. The kinematic dependence of the cross section is reported over a wide range. The short-term plan to utilize the results presented here for a thorough tomography study and the long-term plan for GPD studies at future facilities such as the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) are discussed.

Lee, Sangbaek↗

Measuring the Beam-Spin Asymmetry of Hard Exclusive ¿0 Production off the Neutron with CLAS12

Over the course of the last couple of decades, Generalised Parton Distributions (GPDs) have become a compelling area of focus in both theoretical and experimental research in the ?eld of hadronic structure. GPDs can be indirectly accessed via observables in hard exclusive reactions such as Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering (DVCS) and Deeply Virtual Meson Production (DVMP). In these reactions, an incident lepton scatters o? an individual quark within the target nucleon via the exchange of a virtual photon, and a real photon (DVCS) or a meson (DVMP) are emitted as a result. This thesis presents an analysis of Deeply Virtual ?0 Meson Production o? the neutron in the deuteron (nDV?0P). The data were taken with the CLAS12 detector, which is housed in the experimental Hall B at the Je?erson National Laboratory (JLab) in Virginia, USA. A longitudinally polarised electron beam delivered by JLab?s Continuous Electron Beam accelerator Facility (CEBAF), at an energy of 10.2 and 10.6 GeV, was incident on a liquid deuterium target housed within the CLAS12 detector assembly. The nDV?0P channel is sensitive to the lesser-studied chiral-odd transversity GPDs. GPDs are accessed indirectly via observables related to the cross-sections of hard exclusive processes. One such example is the beam-spin asymmetry (?LU) as a function of Trento-?, the angle between the leptonic plane and the hadronic plane which are de?ned with the beam and scattered electron, and with the recoiling neutron and reconstructed ?0, respectively. Despite the limited statistics, the observable ?LU was successfully extracted for eight kinematic bins (four in Mandelstam ?, and two in ??). This is a ?rst measurement for nDV?0P in the phase-space which is now available with CLAS12 in the 12 GeV era of JLab.

Naidoo, Paul↗

Fast electron transport dynamics and energy deposition in magnetized, imploded cylindrical plasma

Inertial confinement fusion approaches involve the creation of high-energy-density states through compression. High gain scenarios may be enabled by the beneficial heating from fast electrons produced with an intense laser and by energy containment with a high-strength magnetic field. Here, we report experimental measurements from a configuration integrating a magnetized, imploded cylindrical plasma and intense laser-driven electrons as well as multi-stage simulations that show fast electrons transport pathways at different times during the implosion and quantify their energy deposition contribution. The experiment consisted of a CH foam cylinder, inside an external coaxial magnetic field of 5 T, that was imploded using 36 OMEGA laser beams. Two-dimensional (2D) hydrodynamic modelling predicts the CH density reaches 9.0 g cm − 3 , the temperature reaches 920 eV and the external B-field is amplified at maximum compression to 580 T. At pre-determined times during the compression, the intense OMEGA EP laser irradiated one end of the cylinder to accelerate relativistic electrons into the dense imploded plasma providing additional heating. The relativistic electron beam generation was simulated using a 2D particle-in-cell (PIC) code. Finally, three-dimensional hybrid-PIC simulations calculated the electron propagation and energy deposition inside the target and revealed the roles the compressed and self-generated B-fields play in transport. During a time window before the maximum compression time, the self-generated B-field on the compression front confines the injected electrons inside the target, increasing the temperature through Joule heating. For a stronger B-field seed of 20 T, the electrons are predicted to be guided into the compressed target and provide additional collisional heating. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Prospects for high gain inertial fusion energy (part 2)’.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

LaserNetUS at the Extreme Light Laboratory. Final report

This is the final report for LaserNetUS, Grant # DE-SC0019419. This project covered the first two annual cycles (2018-2020) of LaserNetUS experiments conducted at the Extreme Light Laboratory, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The project provided students and scientists from four institutions (BYU, Stanford, UNR, and ARFL) with access to a world-class high-intensity laser facility. Experimental results were obtained on the topics of Nonlinear Thomson scattering, Relativistic vacuum acceleration, and electron beams in relativistic high-energy-density plasma to study x-ray line emission and radio frequencies of ultrashort relativistic electron beam interactions. Another benefit was the training of 10 students (undergraduate or graduate) and 6 young scientists (postdoc or associate/research professors) in critical areas to the future development of high energy density science and high-power laser technology.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Jefferson Laboratory C100 Superconducting Radio-Frequency Cavity Fault Data, 2020

The dataset was created to train machine learning models for the task of identifying the (1) cavity and (2) fault type from C100-type cryomodules at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab), thereby replacing the time-consuming efforts of a subject matter expert. Superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) cavity trips represent a significant source of accelerator downtime. Real-time – rather than post-mortem – identification of the offending cavity and classification of the fault type would give control room operators valuable feedback for corrective action planning. The anticipated benefit is increased beam-on-target time for users and provides performance metrics that can be used to improve future cavity designs. A series of 17 RF signals are recorded for each of the 8 cavities in a C100 cryomodule every time a cavity trips. These time-series signals are written to file using a specially designed data acquisition system. The dataset represents fault events recorded during Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) beam operations between January 18, 2019 and March 9, 2020. The following filtering steps were applied to collected data; (1) only 4 of the 17 signals per cavity are retained (GMES, GASK, CRFP, DETA2) (2) only events with data from each of the eight cavities in the cryomodule are kept, (3) only events that were sampled at 5 kHz were kept, (4) events from cryomodule 0L04 were neglected, (5) events occurring between February 4, 3PM and February 5, 12PM were neglected. As a result of preprocessing, the dataset is comprised of 2,375 unique events. The full dataset is comprised of three files: features.csv, cavity_labels.csv, fault_labels.csv. Each instance in faults.csv includes a timestamp (“date_time”), a label for the cryomodule which experienced the trip (“zone_label”), and 192 features (“feature_1”, “feature_2”... “feature_192”). The features correspond to 6 autoregressive features for each of 4 signals per cavity for each of the 8 cavities (6 × 4 signals/cavity × 8 cavities/cryomodule = 192). To deal with the large variation of signal amplitudes, time-series standardization via the z-score (standard score) function was applied prior to computing the features. For each instance, there is an associated label for the (1) cavity which faulted first (cavity_labels.csv) and (2) the type of fault that caused the trip (fault_labels.csv). The cavity identification can take values of [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8] and the fault type can take values of [‘Microphonics’, ‘Quench_100ms’, ‘Controls_Fault’, ‘E_Quench’, ‘Quench_3ms’, ‘Single_Cav_Turn_Off’ , ‘Heat_Riser_Choke’, ‘Multi_Cav_Turn_Off’].

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Strong interplay between superluminosity and radiation friction during direct laser acceleration

Using a test-particle model, we examine direct laser acceleration of electrons within a magnetic filament that has been shown to form inside a laser-irradiated plasma. We focus on ultra-high intensity interactions where the force of radiation friction caused by electron emission of electromagnetic radiation must be taken into account. It is shown that even relatively weak superluminosity of laser wave fronts—the feature that has been previously neglected—qualitatively changes the electron dynamics, leading to a so-called attractor effect. As a result of this effect, electrons with various initial energies reach roughly the same maximum energy and emit roughly the same power in the form of x-rays and gamma-rays. Our analysis implies that the primary cause of the superluminosity is the laser-heated plasma. The discovered strong interplay between superluminosity and radiation friction is of direct relevance to laser-plasma interactions at high-intensity multi-PW laser facilities.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Machine Learning for Anomaly Detection in Neural Network Security and SRF Cavities

This dissertation explores the development and deployment of machine learning approaches to address critical challenges in anomaly detection across two distinct domains: neural network security in federated learning settings and cavity behavior analysis in particle accelerator operations at Jefferson Lab in Newport News, Virginia. Anomaly detection identifies deviations from expected patterns, safeguarding systems in cybersecurity, industry, and research against malicious activities and failures. This dissertation demonstrates how our machine learning approaches enhance detection accuracy and efficiency in both neural network security and industrial applications. First, we investigate vulnerabilities in deep neural networks deployed in federated learning. Although federated learning preserves user privacy by training models locally, it remains vulnerable to backdoor attacks, in which malicious participants embed hidden triggers that induce targeted misbehavior. We propose a self-supervised contrastive learning framework to detect and mitigate such backdoor attacks. In our experiments, this method achieves higher detection accuracy and lower false positive rates than existing defenses, while operating without access to local model updates or original training data and thus preserving the privacy guarantees of the federated setting. Second, we address the operational reliability of superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) cavities at the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF). Our research leverages an unsupervised learning approach, combined with Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and k-means clustering, to identify anomalous behaviors in SRF cavities. Our method detects subtle anomalous behavior by analyzing SRF signal data. This knowledge allows for the early detection and resolution of potential faults, significantly improving the efficiency and reliability of operations. Third, we extend these insights to time-series anomaly detection more broadly. We design a contrastive-learning based model tailored to increasingly dynamic environments and academic research. This model improves detection accuracy in settings that require real-time monitoring and predictive maintenance. Our research underscores the broader applicability and impact of advanced machine learning techniques in anomaly detection. By extracting meaningful patterns from complex data, machine learning can significantly enhance security in distributed neural networks and improve the efficiency of particle accelerator operations. This dissertation serves as a stepping stone for future investigations into the vast possibilities of anomaly detection, inspiring further exploration and development of machine learning techniques in this field.

Ferguson, Hal [Old Dominion University]↗

Bridging the time scale in exascale computing of chemical systems (Final Technical Report)

This report summarizes the work carried out with support of the United States Department of Energy under Award DE-SC0019441. The theme of this project was to develop and apply methods that allowed for the acceleration of atomistic calculations, particularly in challenging areas such as multiphase systems, electrified interfaces, uncertainty estimation, and applications requiring chemical accuracy, which tend to be applications where simulation time is severely bottlenecked by the computational time requirements. Much of the focus was on the application of emerging machine-learning methodologies, although a wide range of methodologies were employed. This report has two major sections. The first focuses on the methodological advances themselves. Within this part, we report a number of major advances, a few examples of which are described here. We report the first machine-learning scheme for the acceleration of electronically grand-canonical calculations (that is, those applicable to electrochemistry). We report new methods of performing transfer learning, in which physics-based priors can be used to provide predictions, often with uncertainty estimates, of images well outside of training sets; we also offer ways to fine-tune these transfer-learning models. We provide a new systematic means to generate and apply minimal training data sets to very large (10,000’s of atoms) systems, with only small training sets appropriate for electronic structure. We developed new methodologies to integrate surface vibrations into surface adsorption calculations. We made advances to the applicability of diffusion Monte Carlo methods to allow (learned) force prediction, finite-size error correction, and force-free means of searching for transition states. We integrated machine-learned atomistic predictions into mechanism generation codes. Additionally, we released new software including AmpTorch, a modernized version of our original atomistic machine-learning code Amp. The second part of this report focuses on the scientific applications that accompanied, and were often enabled by, the methodological advances described earlier. A few examples follow, but full details are in the individual chapters of the report. For example, we developed a general theory of phonon-induced friction on molecular adsorbates. We showed fundamentally how solvent influences the adsorption and desorption process and how it differs from the processes typically involved at the solid–gas interface, making aqueous-phase and electrocatalysis different from traditional thermocatalysis. We examined how metal–insulator and magnetic transitions can be probed, and accelerated exciton dynamics via Frenkel Hamiltonian parameters. We showed that the nearsighted force-training approach, developed within this project, can predict both the stability and reactivity of large nanoparticles, and can also lead to insights on catalyst coverage on binding energies and entropies. These applied studies, which generally integrated with our method development, allowed us to push forward the theoretical understanding of several reaction classes.

08 HYDROGEN↗

CEBAF Injector for K Long Beam Conditions

The Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) at Jefferson Lab concurrently operates four experimental Halls with distinct bunch charge specifications and repetition rates. Numerous critical beam parameters within CEBAF are configured in the injector, some remaining unchanged throughout the accelerator. Consequently, the injector plays a crucial role in determining final beam characteristics, including bunch structure, beam sizes, bunch lengths, energy spread, and beam transmission. The Jefferson Lab KL experiment is scheduled to take place at CEBAF in Hall D, featuring a much lower bunch repetition rate of 7.80 MHz or 15.59 MHz, below the nominal values of 249.5 MHz or 499 MHz. Although the proposed average current of 5 ?A or 10 ?A is low compared to the maximum CEBAF cur- rent of approximately 180 ?A, the corresponding bunch charge is unusually high for CEBAF injector operation. This study focuses on the behavior of low-repetition-rate, high-bunch- charge (0.32 to 0.64 pC) beams in the CEBAF injector. We investigated the evolution and transmission of low-charge beams to space-charge dominated high-charge beams in the front end of the CEBAF injector for two configurations: the pre-existing CEBAF Phase 1 injector upgrade, operated at 130 kV, and the existing CEBAF Phase 2 injector upgrade, operated at 140 kV, 180 kV, and to be operated at 200 kV. The electron beam through the CEBAF injector is characterized using beam dynamics simulations and comparisons with the available measurements performed at 130 kV. Multi-objective genetic optimizations of the CEBAF injector were performed to determine the operating magnetic elements and RF settings for the evolution and transmission of low, moderate, and high charge beams in the CEBAF injector at 180 kV and 200 kV DC gun voltages. Subsequently, simulations at the same voltages were conducted to obtain the beam characteristics at the front end of the CEBAF injector. The laser spot size and laser pulse length at the cathode were varied to observe their effects on beam transmission in the injector at different voltages (130 kV, 180 kV, and 200 kV). Experimental studies at 130 kV, 140 kV, and 180 kV validate the simulations. Beam study measurements are carried out using EPICS tools, while optimizations and simulations are facilitated by General Particle Tracer. Based on the findings, optimal parameters for the upcoming Jefferson Lab KL experiment are proposed, utilizing a lower repetition rate and higher bunch charge

Pokharel, Sunil↗

Physics with CEBAF at 12 GeV and future opportunities

Here, we summarize the ongoing scientific program of the 12 GeV Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) and give an outlook into future opportunities. The program addresses important topics in nuclear, hadronic, and electroweak physics, including nuclear femtography, meson and baryon spectroscopy, quarks and gluons in nuclei, precision tests of the standard model and dark sector searches. Potential upgrades of CEBAF and their impact on scientific reach are discussed, such as higher luminosity, the addition of polarized and unpolarized positron beams, and doubling the beam energy.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Involving the new generations in Fermilab endeavors

Since 1984 the Italian groups of the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) and Italian Universities, collaborating with the DOE laboratory of Fermilab (US) have been running a two-month summer training program for Italian university students. While in the first year the program involved only four physics students of the University of Pisa, in the following years it was extended to engineering students. This extension was very successful and the engineering students have been since then extremely well accepted by the Fermilab Technical, Accelerator, and Scientific Computing Division groups. Over the many years of its existence, this program has proven to be the most effective way to engage new students in Fermilab endeavors. Many students have extended their collaboration with Fermilab with their Master’s Thesis and PhD. Since 2004 the program has been supported in part by DOE in the frame of an exchange agreement with INFN. Over its almost 40 years of history, the program has grown in scope and size and has involved more than 550 Italian students from more than 20 Italian Universities, Several Institutes of Research, including ASI and INAF in Italy, and the ISSNAF Foundation in the US, have provided additional financial support. Since the program does not exclude appropriately selected non-Italian students, a handful of students from European and non-European Universities were also accepted over the years. Each intern is supervised by a Fermilab Mentor responsible for performing the training program. Training programs spanned from Tevatron, CMS, Muon (g-2), Mu2e, and Short Baseline Neutrino Experiments and DUNE design and experimental data analysis, development of particle detectors (silicon trackers, calorimeters, drift chambers, neutrino and dark matter detectors), design of electronic and accelerator components, development of infrastructures and software for exascale data handling, research on superconductive elements and on accelerating cavities, and theory of particle accelerators. Since 2010, within an extended program supported by the Italian Space Agency and the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics, a total of 30 students in physics, astrophysics, and engineering have been hosted for two months in the summer at US space science Research Institutes and laboratories. In 2015 the University of Pisa included these programs within its educational programs. Accordingly, Summer School students are enrolled at the University of Pisa for the duration of the internship and are identified and ensured as such. At the end of the internship, the students are required to write summary reports on their achievements. After positive evaluation by a University Examining Board, interns are acknowledged credits for their Diploma Supplement. The program was canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic but restarted successfully in 2022. We believe this program can be taken as a model and easily adopted by interested institutions.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

Generation of collimated vortex gamma-rays from intense Poincaré beam–plasma interaction

We report on numerical calculations in which a multi-petawatt γ-ray beam is generated using a novel configuration based on fully structured light irradiating an overdense plasma waveguide. We analyze how the relativistic laser pulse efficiently confines and accelerates plasma electrons to GeV-scale energies and drives a quasi-static field that induces magneto-bremsstrahlung radiation. Multiphoton Compton scattering of electrons in the intense part of the laser also occurs although the radiated energy-density is comparatively lower. The emitted γ-rays carry orbital angular momentum, are highly collimated, and account for upwards of 15% of the incident field energy in one particular case. A comparison of the laser-to-particle angular momentum and energy transfer efficiencies is made between the cases of irradiation by a circularly polarized Laguerre–Gauss mode and one type of full Poincaré beam, and it is found that the latter yields an order-of-magnitude enhancement. In conclusion, the essential characteristics of the interaction are validated with three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations that include quantum electrodynamical effects.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Work function lowering of LaB 6 by monolayer hexagonal boron nitride coating for improved photo- and thermionic-cathodes

We report a lowering of work function for lanthanum hexaboride (LaB 6 ) by monolayer hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) coating. Photoemission electron microcopy (PEEM) and thermionic emission electron microscopy (TEEM) both revealed that the hBN coated region of a LaB 6 (100) single crystal has a lower work function compared to the bare (i.e., non-coated) and graphene coated regions. A broad and uniform brighter image of the hBN coated region in PEEM was quantitatively supported by a 0.4 eV decrease in the work function in photoelectron spectra compared to the bare region. TEEM results were consistent in that the hBN coated region exhibited thermionic emission at 905 °C, whereas the bare and graphene coated regions did not. A larger decrease in the work function for hBN coated LaB 6 (100) compared to graphene coated LaB 6 (100) was qualitatively supported by our density functional theory calculations. Adding an oxide layer in the calculations improved consistency between the calculation and experimental results. We followed up our calculations with synchrotron-radiation x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and confirmed the presence of an oxide layer on our LaB 6 .

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Photoelectron spectroscopy of CsK2Sb photocathode at Synchrotron Radiation Facility using vacuum transport system

As accelerators and electron microscopes become more advanced, high-performance photocathodes are required. In particular, Cesium potassium antimonide (CsK 2 Sb) photocathode is of interest because of its low emittance, excitability in visible light, and high quantum efficiency (QE). The challenge is its high susceptibility to environment that lead to low operating vacuum pressure and short lifetime/low extraction charge. To resolve these issues, it is necessary to understand the molecular structure of the cathode and its degradation mechanism. In this study, we transported CsK 2 Sb photocathode to a beamline of synchrotron radiation facility using a vacuum transport system for molecular structure analysis. Specifically, the cathode was deposited in an evaporation system at Nagoya University. We transported it to Aichi Synchrotron Radiation Center (Aichi SR) located 15 km away, and analyzed it in the depth direction by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) at BL7U. Based on the results, we quantitatively evaluated the composition ratios and stoichiometry of the cathode elements (Sb, K, Cs). A Cs ex-cess state of surface was observed at the surface, and it is consistent with previous studies. The intended atomic structure of CsK 2 Sb was formed only at a few nanometres of the surface on the Mo substrate. On the other hand, the CsK 2 Sb cathode structure on the graphene substrate was preserved further in the depth direction.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

The large-area hybrid-optics CLAS12 RICH: First years of data-taking

The CLAS12 deep-inelastic scattering experiment at the upgraded 12 GeV continuous electron beam accelerator facility of Jefferson Lab conjugates luminosity and wide acceptance to study the 3D nucleon structure in the yet poorly explored valence region, and to perform precision measurements in hadron spectroscopy. A large area ring-imaging Cherenkov detector has been designed to achieve the required hadron identification in the momentum range from 3 GeV/c to 8 GeV/c, with the kaon rate about one order of magnitude lower than the rate of pions and protons. The adopted solution comprises aerogel radiator and composite mirrors in a novel hybrid optics design, where either direct or reflected light could be imaged in a high-packed and high-segmented photon detector. The first RICH module was assembled during the second half of 2017 and installed at the beginning of January 2018, in time for the start of the experiment. The second RICH module, planned with the goal to be ready for the beginning of the operation with polarized targets, has been timely built despite the complications caused by the pandemic crisis and successfully installed in June 2022. Finally, the detector performance is here discussed with emphasis on the operation and stability during the data-taking, calibration and alignment procedures, reconstruction and pattern recognition algorithms, and particle identification.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗