Grant: Subatomic Physics Envelope - Project

The MoEDAL-LHC collaboration is Canadian led and presently consists of 70 physicists from 25 institutes around the world. In March 2022 the Institute of Particle Physics (IPP) unanimously approved the MoEDAL-MAPP as an IPP Project. The innovative MoEDAL experiment is designed to search for Highly Ionizing Particle (HIP) avatars of New Physics (NP) beyond the Standard Model (SM) - expanding the LHC's physics reach in a complementary way. Its physics program defines over 34 scenarios yielding potentially revolutionary insights into foundational questions, involving: magnetic charge; a 4th generation; heavy neutrinos; extra dimensions; new symmetries; and, dark matter. MoEDAL, the LHC's 1st dedicated search experiment, took data with 100% efficiency at IP8 on the LHC ring during Run-1/2 (2011-18). During this time, it placed the world's best limits on the  singly and multiply charged Magnetic Monopoles (MMs) and Highly Electrically Charged Objects. It has also carried out the 1st ever searches for, 1) Spin-1 MMs; 2) dyons, particles with electric and, 3) MMs produced in heavy-ion collisions via the Schwinger Mechanism (published in Nature). Also, it carried out the LHC's only search for MM production via photon fusion. The continuing analysis of its Run-2 data promises other pioneering results. In 2021, CERN approved MoEDAL for data taking in Run-3 with: improved detector efficiency; lower charge threshold (50e->5e); greater instantaneous luminosity (x 5); and, higher collision energy (14 TeV), greatly extending MoEDAL's physics reach. Also, in Dec. 2021, CERN approved the MAPP (MoEDAL Apparatus for Penetrating Particles) upgrade, expanding our discovery horizon to include competitive sensitivity to Feebly Interacting Particles  and Long-lived Particles. The funding to finalize MAPP detector construction was provided by 2 NSERC RTI grants awarded in 2019 (~$320K) a trapping detector array (MMT) that captures HIPs for further study; and, an active TimePix pixel chip array to monitor beam backgrounds (BBs). MoEDAL's sensitive elements need to be replaced once or twice a year, depending on BBs. The NTDs are analyzed  offline at INFN Bologna & U. Helsinki by optical scanning microscopes. The MMT trapping volumes are scanned for trapped magnetic charge at our ETH Zurich SQUID Facility. The MAPP detector is currently being installed 110m underground in the UA83 tunnel at 7-deg. to the beam and 100m from IP8 on the LHC ring. MAPP is comprised of 400 (10cm x 10cm x 75cm) scintillator bars, readout by low noise PMTs, arranged longitudinally in 4 equal sections. It is encased in a hermetic veto layer to counter penetrating backgrounds from: cosmic rays; and, SM particles  that penetrate ~45m of intervening rock, from IP8.