Charged particle identification performance of the TOP counters in Belle II

Abstract

The Time-Of-Propagation (TOP) counter is a novel ring-imaging Cherenkov detector that primarily consists of a quartz bar radiator, micro-channel plate photomultipliers and front-end readout electronics. These TOP counters are installed in the central region of the Belle II detector to provide the crucial information on the charged particle identification (PID). Here, we present an overview of PID studies in Belle II, with a focus on the performance of the TOP detector. The results presented are from the recently recorded data which show reasonable agreement with the expectations from the simulation studies.