Development of pixelised Micromegas detectors for high particle flux and diffractive processes' contribution to hadron leptoproduction at COMPASS ; Développement de détecteurs Micromegas pixellisés pour les hauts flux de particules et évaluation de la contribution diffractive à la leptoproduction de hadrons à COMPASS

This thesis is dedicated to the development and characterisation of a new generation of Micromegas (MICROMEsh GAseous Structure) detectors for the COMPASS experiment at Cern, and the estimation of the diffractive processes’ contribution to the production of pions and kaons, concerning the study of the quark fragmentation functions into hadrons at COMPASS. New Micromegas detectors with a 40 x 40 cm² active area are being developed for the future physics program of the COMPASS experiment starting in 2015. These detectors will have to work in high muon and hadron flux (close to 8 MHz/cm²). In this context, a central area of about 5 cm diameter, crossed by the beam, will be composed of 1280 pixels, and discharge-reduction technologies will be used. Four prototypes with a final read-out geometry, using two different discharge-reduction technologies have been produced at Cern and studied in nominal conditions at COMPASS between 2010 and 2012. Three are hybrid detectors using a GEM (Gas Electron Multiplier) foil as a preamplification stage to reduce the discharge probability. The other is equipped with a so called “buried resistors” resistive structure allowing to strongly reduce the discharge amplitude. Their performances are presented in this thesis. The impact of these results on the production and implementation of the final series of detectors is also discussed. Quark fragmentation functions into hadrons describe the hadronisation of a quark of flavor q into a hadron h. These universal functions take part in the cross-section expression of several processes. They can be accessed at COMPASS via semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering of muons off nucleons. The relevant observables for fragmentation function extraction are hadron multiplicities, corresponding to the mean number of hadrons produced per deep inelastic scattering event. Vector mesons produced by a diffractive process can decay into pions and kaons. As such processes do not involve quark hadronisation, they should a priori be excluded from multiplicity ...