Speaker
Description
FASER (ForwArd Search ExpeRiment) fills the axial blindspot of other, radially arranged LHC experiments. It is installed 480 meters from the ATLAS interaction point, along the collision axis. FASER will search for dark matter and other new, long-lived particles that may be hidden in the collimated reaction products exiting ATLAS. FASER comprises: a magnetic spectrometer built with ATLAS silicon tracker modules; four LHCb outer ECAL modules; an emulsion neutrino detector; and plastic scintillators for veto, trigger and timing. The experiment is currently in its final commissioning stages. I report on successful preliminary tests of hardware and software performance with cosmic rays on the surface, and after installation in situ. FASER will begin taking pp collision data from the start of LHC Run 3, in 2022.
