Speaker
Description
The production of antihelium in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV is studied with the LHCb experiment. The used dataset corresponds to 5.1 f b−1. The helium nuclei are identified using mainly ionisation losses in the silicon detectors, resulting in a nearly background-free sample of more than 105 candidates. Recent improvements lead to further suppression of the residual background from photon conversions. This is done by exploiting information from the RICH, calorimeter, and OT. Using the excellent vertex reconstruction capabilities of the VELO subdetector, these helium nuclei are combined with pions to study hypertriton production, and with proton and deuteron candidate tracks to form Λb decay vertices. In this contribution, first results and prospects for a rich programme of LHCb measurements of QCD and astrophysics interest involving light nuclei are discussed. In particular, the results will ultimately impact estimates of antihelium in cosmic rays from dark matter annihilation.
| Alternate track | 08. Astro-particle Physics and Cosmology |
|---|---|
| I read the instructions above | Yes |
