Charm and multi-charm baryon measurements via strangeness tracking with the upgraded ALICE detector

¹ UNICAMP
² CERN

^* e-mail: daviddc@ifi.unicamp.br

Published online: 1 February 2022

Abstract

We present a new method for detection of multiply charmed baryons via their decays into strange baryons, using ‘strangeness tracking’. This method makes use of the state-of-the-art upgraded silicon detectors in ALICE during Runs 3, 4 and beyond will enable the novel possibility of tracking strange hadrons directly before they decay, leading to a very significant improvement in impactparameter resolution. In this work, we will discuss how this new technique will be crucial to distinguish secondary strange baryons originating from charm decays from primary strange baryons. This is a particularly interesting possibility for the Ω⁻ baryon coming from Ω_c⁰ → Ω⁻π⁺ decays, since there is no other relevant feeddown source for Ω⁻. This, in turn, means that the main Ω⁻ background for the Ω_c measurement will point most accurately to the primary vertex, unlike pions or protons from other charm baryon decays.

We will illustrate the achievable performance of strangeness tracking for the Run 3 configuration of ALICE with the upgraded Inner Tracking System, which is fully instrumented with silicon pixel detectors. Moreover, we will discuss the potential of this technique in a future experiment with an extensive silicon tracking detector with a first layer very close to the interaction point. Finally, we will also cover other potential major applications of strangeness tracking, including measurements of hypernuclei such as the _Λ³H.