Initial performance of the Aerogel RICH detector of the Belle II experiment

The Belle II experiment is a new generation B factory experiment at the SuperKEKB electron–positron collider. The main purpose of the experiment is to search for new physics with a large sample of B meson decays. The proximity-focusing Aerogel Ring-Imaging Cherenkov detector (ARICH) has been designed to identify kaons and pions in the forward end-cap of the Belle II spectrometer. Using aerogel as radiator with specialized photon sensors called HAPD, the K/π separation is expected to reach more than 4 σ in the momentum range from 0.5 GeV/c to 4.0 GeV/c. ARICH detector was constructed in summer 2017 and was installed in the Belle II spectrometer in the beam line of the SuperKEKB collider. The test of the ARICH detector is performed using both cosmic rays and the beam collisions during the accelerator commissioning. We observe Cherenkov rings in the ARICH detector associated with charged tracks detected by the tracking system. The reconstructed Cherenkov angle distribution has a clear and reasonable peak. The ARICH K∕π separation performance is evaluated using Bhabha events in beam runs; the separation power achieve the design value.