The dual radiator RICH detector for particle identification in the forward region of the future Electron Ion Collider spectrometer

Excellent particle identification (PID), especially of hadrons over a large kinematic phase space, is a critical requirement to realize the rich experimental physics program at the future Electron-Ion Collider (EIC). We present the status of the development of a dual-radiator ring-imaging Cherenkov (dRICH) detector designed for PID in the forward hadronic endcap of the EIC spectrometer over an extended momentum range. The current dRICH design consists of 6 identical azimuthal sectors covering the full solid angle for pseudorapidities 1.5 \textless ?${\rm g}$\textless 3.4 (polar angles: 5 \textless ?${\rm g}$\textless 25 deg). Each sector includes a 4-cm-thick aerogel radiator (n\textasciitilde 1.02) followed by 1--1.5-m-long CFgas filled volume (n\textasciitilde 1.0008). Cherenkov photons from both radiators are focused by a spherical mirror onto the photo-detector surface which sits outside the detector acceptance. Studies based on detailed Monte Carlo simulations, Bayesian-driven detector optimization strategies and event-based PID reconstruction algorithm, show that the dRICH can provide continuous K/?separation from \textasciitilde 3 to \textasciitilde 50 GeV/c, and electron identification from few hundred MeV/c to \textasciitilde 15 GeV/c. A small-scale, full features, prototype is being designed to validate the predicted performance and to study critical features of the proposed detector.