Title: The Future of RICH Detectors through the Light of the LHCb RICH,
Abstract: The limitations in performance of the present RICH system in the LHCb
experiment are given by the natural chromatic dispersion of the gaseous
Cherenkov radiator, the aberrations of the optical system and the pixel size of
the photon detectors. Moreover, the overall PID performance can be affected by
high detector occupancy as the pattern recognition becomes more difficult with
high particle multiplicities. This paper shows a way to improve performance by
systematically addressing each of the previously mentioned limitations. These
ideas are applied in the present and future upgrade phases of the LHCb
experiment. Although applied to specific circumstances, they are used as a
paradigm on what is achievable in the development and realisation of high
precision RICH detectors.