CASTOR detector: Model, objectives and simulated performance

We present a phenomenological model describing the formation and evolution of a Centauro fireball in the baryon-rich region in nucleus-nucleus interactions in the upper atmosphere and at the LHC. The small particle multiplicity and imbalance of electromagnetic and hadronic content characterizing a Centauro event and also the strongly penetrating particles (assumed to be strangelets) frequently accompanying them can be naturally explained. We describe the CASTOR calorimeter, a subdetector of the ALICE experiment dedicated to the search for Centauro in the very forward, baryon-rich region of central Pb+Pb collisions at the LHC. The basic characteristics and simulated performance of the calorimeter are presented.