Luminosity (scattering theory)

In scattering theory and accelerator physics, luminosity (L) is the ratio of the number of events detected (dN) in a certain period of time (dt) to the cross-section (σ):[1]

It has the dimensions of events per time per area, and is usually expressed in the cgs units of cm−2·s−1 or the non-SI units of b−1·s−1. In practice, L is dependent on the particle beam parameters, such as beam width and particle flow rate, as well as the target properties, such as target size and density.[1]

A related quantity is integrated luminosity (Lint), which is the integral of the luminosity with respect to time:[1]

The luminosity and integrated luminosity are useful values to characterize the performance of a particle accelerator. In particular, all collider experiments aim to maximize their integrated luminosities, as the higher the integrated luminosity, the more data is available to analyze.[1]

  1. ^ a b c d Herr, W.; Muratori, B. (2006). "Concept of luminosity" (PDF). In Brandt, D. (ed.). CERN Accelerator School: Intermediate Course on Accelerator Physics, Zeuthen, Germany, 15-26 Sep 2003. CERN. pp. 361–378. doi:10.5170/CERN-2006-002. ISBN 978-92-9083-267-6.