Atlas is one of the four most important experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. It is a general particle physics experiment driven by international collaboration and, together with the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS), is designed to take advantage of its discovery potential and the wide range of physics opportunities provided by the Large Hadron Collider.
The Atlas experiment is used by research groups to test whether the predictions of the Standard Model of physics are correct. The Standard Model encapsulates our current knowledge about the composition of matter and how its fundamental building blocks interact: protons, electrons, neutrons, photons, quarks, muons, bosons.
The Millennium Institute SAPHIR has consolidated its presence at the forefront of particle physics through a growing collaboration with CERN's ATLAS experiment, one of the most important detectors of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). During Phase II of the detector's modernization, SAPHIR has contributed to several key aspects of the project, reaffirming Chile's role in frontier science at the international level. Among its most outstanding contributions is the participation in the design and production of the charge monitoring system of the muon spectrometer (TGC Charge Monitoring System), an essential part to improve the precision in the detection of these fundamental particles. In addition, the team linked to SAPHIR has actively collaborated in the development of the cooling system for the new internal tracker (iTK), a crucial technology that will completely replace the current trace detector. Researchers at the institute have also worked on the production of the MOPS-HUB system, and have led the design and fabrication of the environmental housing that will protect the barrel section of the iTK during assembly. This last phase is being carried out at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) in the United Kingdom, with direct participation of South American scientists. Finally, the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, through SAPHIR, plays a central role in the quality assurance of the detector's flexible wiring (FLEX), ensuring that each component meets CERN's rigorous standards. These contributions reflect the institute's growing impact on one of the most ambitious experiments in modern science.
