The Particle Adventure | How do we interpret our data?

Eternal questions The search for the fundamental The atom Is the atom fundamental? Is the nucleus fundamental? Are protons and neutrons
fundamental? The modern atom model The scale of the atom What are we looking for? The standard model The standard model quiz

Quarks and leptons Matter & antimatter What is antimatter? Quarks The naming of quarks Hadrons, baryons and mesons Leptons Lepton decays Lepton type conservation Lepton decay quiz Neutrinos Quiz - What particles are made of

The four interactions How does matter interact? The unseen effect Electromagnetism Residual EM force What about the nucleus? Strong Color charge Quark confinement Quarks emit gluons Residual strong force Weak Electroweak Gravity Interaction summary Quantum mechanics The Pauli Exclusion Principle Fermions and bosons A lot to remember

What is decay? Radioactivity Radioactive particles Confusion about decays A look into the nucleus If it can happen, it will Half life Missing mass Particle decay mediators Virtual particles Different interactions Annhiliations Bubble chamber and decays Neutron beta decays Electron / positron annhiliation Top production

Beyond the standard model The standard model as a theory Three generations What about masses? Grand Unified Theory Forces and the Grand Unified Theory Supersymmetry String theory Extra dimensions Dark Matter

Testing a theory Searching for the atom's structure Rutherford's result Rutherford's analysis How physicists experiment Deflected probe

Detecting the world A better microscope Wavelength - The cave Wavelength - The moral Wavelength and resolution explained The physicists tool: The accelerator Waves and particles The world's meterstick Mass and energy Energy-mass conversion

Accelerators How to obtain particles to accelerate Accelerating particles Accelerating particles: Animation Accelerator design Fixed target experiments Colliding beam experiment A linear or circular accelerator What makes particles go in a circle? Advantages of accelerator design Major accelerators The event Detectors Detector shapes

Modern detectors Typical detector components Measuring charge and momentum Detector cross section Quiz - Particle tracks The computer reconstruction A quark/gluon event The end

Accelerators and particle detectors - How do we interpret our data? - Modern detectors

Modern detectors consist of many different pieces of equipment which test for different aspects of an event. These many components are arranged in such a way that physicists can obtain the most data about the particles spawned by an event.

This is a schematic design of a typical modern detector.

For more information:

Tracking chamber:
More Information

The inner region of the detector is filled with highly segmented sensing devices of various kinds, so that charged particle trajectories can be very accurately determined.

Electromagnetic Calorimeter:
More Information

This device measures the total energy of e+, e-, and photons. These particles produce showers of e+/e- pairs in the material. The e-'s (or e+'s) are deflected by the electric fields of atoms, causing them to radiate photons. The photons then make e-/e+ pairs, which then radiate photons, etc. The number of final e+, e- pairs is proportional to the energy of the initiating particle.

Hadron Calorimeter:
More Information

This device measures the total energy of hadrons. The hadrons interact with the dense material in this region, producing a shower of charged particles. The energy that these charged particles deposit is then measured.

Muon Chambers:
More Information

Only muons and neutrinos get this far. The muons are detected, but the weakly interacting neutrinos escape. The presence of neutrinos can be inferred by the "missing" energy.

Magnet:
More Information

The path of a charged particle curves in a magnetic field. The radius of curvature and direction tell the momentum and the sign of the charge.