The VHMPID RICH upgrade project for ALICE at LHC

RHIC results have shown the importance of high momentum particles as hard probes and the need for particle identification (PID) in a very large momentum range. A Very High Momentum PID (VHMPID) detector has been proposed as upgrade of ALICE to extend the track-by-track identification capabilities for charged hadrons from the present 5 GeV/c limit to the momentum range 10-30 GeV/c. The VHMPID detector is a focusing RICH using C4F10 gaseous radiator coupled to a CsI-based photon detector. Detector design studies, achievable Cherenkov angle resolution, expected performance and high momentum triggering will be discussed.