LUCID and QUARTIC detector development in the forward region of ATLAS

The ATLAS detector construction is now completed and ready to explore the widest possible range of physics signals after the LHC collider begins running in 2008, at the unprecedented centre of mass energy of 14 TeV.;It is envisaged that the FP420 detectors will be installed at approximately +/-420 m from the ATLAS interaction point as part of the project, to extend the physics reach of ATLAS in the forward region. Accurate time of flight measurements will be necessary in order to reduce pile-up induced backgrounds in the FP420 detectors. This thesis presents the design, simulation and test beam study of the QUARTIC prototype, an ultra precise Cerenkov time-of-flight detector. Simulation and test beam studies indicate that a 10 ps time resolution is achievable with the QUARTIC detector. Such a resolution would reduce the pile-up background by a factor of fifty.;The exclusive two photon di-muon production process (pp → pgammagammap → pmu + mu-p) can be used to calibrate the energy measurement of the FP420 detectors. In this thesis a simulation study combining the LPAIR MC and ATLAS full simulation shows that this process could be used to calibrate the mass of a reconstructed central mass with a resolution of better than one GeV/c2.;LUCID is the luminosity monitor of the ATLAS detector designed to achieve a precise measurement of luminosity across the full range of operation of the ATLAS detector, eventually as good as a few percent after calibration with elastic proton scattering data in the Coulomb scattering region. This thesis presents the design, simulation, bench test and test beam study of the LUCID detector.