Helium identification with LHCb

The identification of helium nuclei at LHCb is achieved using a method based on
measurements of ionisation losses in the silicon sensors and timing measurements in the Outer Tracker
drift tubes. The background from photon conversions is reduced using the RICH detectors and an
isolation requirement. The method is developed using 𝑝 𝑝 collision data at √
𝑠 = 13 TeV recorded by
the LHCb experiment in the years 2016 to 2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.5 fb−1
.
A total of around 105 helium and antihelium candidates are identified with negligible background
contamination. The helium identification efficiency is estimated to be approximately 50% with a
corresponding background rejection rate of up to O (1012). These results demonstrate the feasibility
of a rich programme of measurements of QCD and astrophysics interest involving light nuclei.
Keywords: dE/dx detectors; Ion identification systems; Large detector systems for particle and
astroparticle physics; Particle identification methods