Activation of Liquid Argon in the ATLAS Calorimeter by High-Energy Hadrons

Predictions of high-energy hadron activation of liquid argon in the calorimeter of A Thoroidal LHC ApparatuS (ATLAS) were carried out by folding particle flux spectra with the radionuclide production cross sections. Calculations were performed with a wide array of input data. Six sets of cross sections were folded with two sets of particle flux spectra, and the results were compared. The particle fluxes were obtained from simulations with the Monte Carlo radiation transport codes FLUKA and GCALOR. The cross-section sets were calculated according to the Rudstam and the Silberberg-Tsao formulas; taken from the Japanese Evaluated Nuclear Data Library (JENDL) and the Medium Energy Nuclear Data Library (MENDL); obtained from the Large Hadron Collider air activation studies; and compiled from various, predominantly experimental, sources.