Physics:Luminosity (scattering theory)

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In scattering theory and accelerator physics, luminosity (L) is the ratio of the number of events detected (dN) in a certain period of time (dt) to the cross-section (σ):[1]

[math]\displaystyle{ L = \frac{1}{\sigma}\frac{dN}{dt}. }[/math]

It has the dimensions of events per time per area, and is usually expressed in the cgs units of cm−2·s−1 or the non-SI units of b−1·s−1. In practice, L is dependent on the particle beam parameters, such as beam width and particle flow rate, as well as the target properties, such as target size and density.[1]

A related quantity is integrated luminosity (Lint), which is the integral of the luminosity with respect to time:[1]

[math]\displaystyle{ L_\mathrm{int} = \int L \ dt. }[/math]

The luminosity and integrated luminosity are useful values to characterize the performance of a particle accelerator. In particular, all collider experiments aim to maximize their integrated luminosities, as the higher the integrated luminosity, the more data is available to analyze.[1]

Examples of collider luminosity

Here are a few examples of the luminosity of certain accelerators.[1]

Collider Interaction L (cm−2·s−1)
SPS p + p 6.0×1030
Tevatron[2] p + p 4.0×1032
HERA p + e+ 4.0×1031
LEP e + e+ 1.0×1032
PEP e + e+ 3.0×1033
KEKB[3] e + e+ 2.1×1034
SuperKEKB[4] e + e+ 2.4×1034
LHC[5] p + p 2.1×1034
LHC[6] p + Pb 8.5×1029
LHC[6] Pb + Pb 6.1×1027
HL-LHC[7] p + p 5.0×1034

References