A RICH with aerogel for a hadron collider

Operating a RICH detector with an aerogel radiator is a significant challenge at a hadron collider such as the LHC due to the high event rate and multiplicity of the produced charged tracks. Large-size tiles of silica aerogel with excellent optical quality have recently been produced for the LHCb RICH detector. The photon yield and Cherenkov angle resolution from these tiles have been maximized. Results of laboratory measurements and beam tests are reported. The uniformity of the index of refraction within a tile has also been studied.