Study of a possible scintillating fibre tracker at the LHC and tests of scintillating fibres

We present a possible scheme for a scintillating fibre tracker that could be used at the LHC in the central pseudorapidity region. The experimental environment at the LHC was simulated in detail by a Monte Carlo program using the GEANT package. We shall discuss the expected performance of the proposed tracker, mainly for electron identification. We also report on the results of laboratory measurements of scintillating fibre characteristics: we measured the time response, the light yield, the attenuation length and the light propagation speed in individual fibres, looking for the best candidates for the LHC. (orig.)