ALICE is the heavy-ion experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The experiment continuously took data during the first physics campaign of the machine from fall 2009 until early 2013, using proton and lead-ion beams. In this paper we describe the running environment and the data handling procedures, and discuss the performance of the ALICE detectors and analysis methods for various physics observables.

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Based on single ended strip structure, symmetric, multi gap RPC, developed by us more than a decade ago, the time-of-flight barrel of FOPI experiment at GSI-Darmstadt was designed, constructed and is currently in operation. Motivated by the requirements of the next generation experiments in terms of very good time resolution in high counting rate and multiplicity environment, a new architecture of differential, strip structure, symmetric, multi gap timing RPC was developed. The results on efficiency, two dimensions position resolution, time resolution and performance in high counting rate environment using low resistivity glass electrodes are reported.

Charged hadron identification in the Compressed Baryonic Matter experiment (CBM) is realized via the Time-of-Flight method [1]. For this purpose the CBM-ToF collaboration designed a Time-of-Flight wall composed of Multi-gap Resistive Plate Chambers (MRPCs). Due to the high interaction rate in CBM of 10 MHz the key challenge is the development of high rate MRPCs above 25 kHz/cm 2 which become possible after the development of low resistive glass with extremely good quality. In this article we present the actual conceptual design of the ToF-wall which is subdivided in three parts namely the outer wall, the inner wall and the forward zone that are discussed in detail. KEYWORDS: Particle identification methods; Detector design and construction technologies and materials; Resistive-plate chambers; Instrumentation and methods for time-of-flight (TOF) spectroscopy

Multi-gap RPC prototypes with readout on a multi-strip electrode were developed for the small polar angle region of the CBM-TOF subdetector, the most demanding zone in terms of granularity and counting rate. The prototypes are based on low resistivity (∼10 10 Ωcm) glass electrodes for performing in high counting rate environment. The strip width/pitch size was chosen such to fulfill the impedance matching with the front-end electronics and the granularity requirements of the innermost zone of the CBM-TOF wall. The in-beam tests using secondary particles produced in heavy ion collisions on a Pb target at SIS18 -GSI Darmstadt and SPS -CERN were focused on the performance of the prototype in conditions similar to the ones expected at SIS100/FAIR. An efficiency larger than 98% and a system time resolution in the order of 70 -80 ps were obtained in high counting rate and high multiplicity environment. * mpetris@nipne.ro 1