Luminosity (scattering theory)

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

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]

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]

ColliderInteractionL (cm−2·s−1)
SPSp + p6.0×1030
Tevatron[2]p + p4.0×1032
HERAp + e+4.0×1031
LHC[3]p + p2.1×1034
LEPe− + e+1.0×1032
PEPe− + e+3.0×1033
KEKB[4]e− + e+2.1×1034

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Herr, W.; Muratori, B. (2006). "Concept of luminosity". In Brandt, D. CERN Accelerator School: Intermediate Course on Accelerator Physics, Zeuthen, Germany, 15-26 Sep 2003 (PDF). CERN. pp. 361–378. doi:10.5170/CERN-2006-002. ISBN 978-92-9083-267-6.
  2. ↑ Tevatron sets new initial luminosity records, Fermilab Today news archive
  3. ↑ LHC Report: The LHC is full!
  4. ↑ Tetsuo Abe et al.: Achievements of KEKB. In: Prog. Theor. Exp. Phys. 03A001, 2013, pp. 1–18, doi:10.1093/ptep/pts102.
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