SLHC: The LHC luminosity upgrade

The LHC will provide unprecedented sensitivity to Standard Model and beyond the Standard Model Physics. However, some important Standard Model measurements as well as a wide part of the spectrum of particles predicted by many promising theoretical models of New Physics are likely beyond the LHC reach. For such observations, a factor-of-ten increase in LHC statistics will have a major impact. A luminosity upgrade is therefore planned for the LHC. The SLHC as well as offering the possibility to increase the Physics potential will create an extreme operating environment for the detectors, particularly the tracking devices. An increase in the number of minimum bias events per beam crossing by at least an order of magnitude beyond the levels envisioned for LHC design luminosity creates the need to handle much higher occupancies and for the innermost layers unprecedented levels of radiation. This will require a fully upgraded tracking system giving a higher granularity, while trying not to exceed the material budget and power levels of the current trackers. The much higher rate of interactions may also push the limits of the Level-1 trigger system. Efforts have already begun to address these issues. This paper presents the possible Physics reaches at SLHC and the cur-rent understanding of what systems will need to be upgraded. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.