Designing the ATLAS trigger menu for high luminosities

The LHC has a bunch-crossing rate of 20 MHz whereas the ATLAS detector has an average recording rate of about 400 Hz. To reduce the rate of events but still maintain a high efficiency for selecting interesting events needed by ATLAS physics analyses, a three-level trigger system is used in ATLAS. Events are selected based on the Trigger Menu, the definitions of the physics signatures the experiment triggers on. In the 2012 data taking since April, approximately 700 chains are used online. The menu must reflect not only the physics goals of the collaboration but also take into consideration the LHC luminosity and the strict DAQ limitations. An overview of the design, the validation and the performance of the trigger menu for the 2011 data-taking is given. During 2011, the menu had to evolve as the luminosity increase from below 2×1033 cm−2s−1 to almost 5×1033 cm−2s−1. Re-designing the menu for the up-coming high luminosity of around 1034 cm−2s−1 and large number of collision events that take place per each bunch crossing (pile-up) of around 35 interactions per bunch crossing at √s = 8 TeV is described. Initial performance in the 2012 data-taking is also reported.