Köln 2025 – scientific programme
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HK: Fachverband Physik der Hadronen und Kerne
HK 31: Instrumentation VII
HK 31.4: Talk
Wednesday, March 12, 2025, 16:30–16:45, SR Exp1A Chemie
Test Measurements and Simulation of the PUMA Time Projection Chamber — •Rico Holz1, Clara Klink1,2, and Alexandre Obertelli1 — 1TU Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany — 2CERN, Genève, Switzerland
The antiProton Unstable Matter Annihilation (PUMA) experiment at CERN studies the distribution of protons and neutrons in the nuclear density tail using low-energy antiprotons. By studying stable and short-lived nuclei, PUMA investigates surface phenomena such as nuclear halos and neutron skins. The experiment leverages the sensitivity of antiprotons to both neutrons and protons, with the neutron-to-proton annihilation ratio serving as the key observable. The antiproton-nucleon annihilation process conserves the electrical charge. PUMA uses this feature to disentangle the annihilation on neutrons and protons by measuring the charges of pions emitted from the annihilation with a time projection chamber (TPC) surrounding the reaction area [1].
The TPC and its operation will be described. The timing of the data acquisition is controlled by a plastic-scintillator trigger barrel positioned on the TPC's outer side. This contribution will present recent developments in the PUMA TPC and its associated simulation code, along with preliminary test measurements.
[1] T. Aumann et al., Eur. Phys. J. A (2022) 58:88
Keywords: Time projection chamber