Benchmarking LHC background particle simulation with the CMS triple-GEM detector

In 2018, a system of large-size triple-GEM demonstrator chambers was installed in the CMS experiment at CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The demonstrator's design mimicks that of the final detector, installed for Run-3. A successful Monte Carlo (MC) simulation of the collision-induced background hit rate in this system in proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV is presented. The MC predictions are compared to CMS measurements recorded at an instantaneous luminosity of 1.5 ×1034 cm-2 s-1. The simulation framework uses a combination of the FLUKA and GEANT4 packages. FLUKA simulates the radiation environment around the GE1/1 chambers. The particle flux by FLUKA covers energy spectra ranging from 10-11 to 104 MeV for neutrons, 10-3 to 104 MeV for γ's, 10-2 to 104 MeV for e±, and 10-1 to 104 MeV for charged hadrons. GEANT4 provides an estimate of the detector response (sensitivity) based on an accurate description of the detector geometry, the material composition, and the interaction of particles with the detector layers. The detector hit rate, as obtained from the simulation using FLUKA and GEANT4, is estimated as a function of the perpendicular distance from the beam line and agrees with data within the assigned uncertainties in the range 13.7-14.5%. This simulation framework can be used to obtain a reliable estimate of the background rates expected at the High Luminosity LHC.