Event Plane Detector

The Event Plane Detector (EPD) at STAR is a key subsystem designed to provide precise event plane determination and centrality measurement in heavy-ion collisions. Covering the forward rapidity region, the EPD enhances the study of initial-state fluctuations and their impact on final-state observables, improving our understanding of the quark-gluon plasma. Its segmented scintillator design, coupled with multi-anode photomultipliers, allows for high-resolution measurements of charged particle distributions, crucial for flow studies and correlation analyses.

I am responsible for the maintenance, installation, and performance monitoring of the EPD throughout data-taking runs. As the expert overseeing its operation, I ensure optimal functionality, calibration, and data quality. Currently, we are developing a proposal to relocate the EPD from STAR to LHCb after the final RHIC run in 2025. Integrating the EPD into LHCb would significantly improve event plane determination, providing new opportunities to explore flow observables and anisotropic particle distributions in proton-proton and heavy-ion collisions. This transition aims to enrich the physics program at LHCb and CERN, expanding the detector’s impact beyond RHIC.