What is Fermilab? - Run II Newscasts - Analyze the Data - Particle Physics Bibliography

How do we detect particles too small to be seen with the best microscope?
What information do we need to identify a known particle or to "discover" a new one?


This is a partial side view of tracks in a detector. The little boxes show where energy was deposited.
    
This is the same event from an end view. Notice that some tracks are curved more than others. Particles with greater momenta are affected less by the magnetic field, so their tracks are straighter.

Become an events detective! Learn how to identify the tracks of a few particles.

6 minute video on detector functions

5-minute video on Cerenkov detectors

 To view the videos you need Real Player 7.0 or above. Obtain this free application by clicking on the logo. Get RealPlayer 8 beta

Interactive DELPHI events. With your mouse rotate 3-D detector with color-coded tracks. Most events are identified; some aren't. Shows only tracker & calorimeter rings. (May be slow with WIRED.)

Hands on CERN. (Go to "a close look at particle collisions.") Interactive displays of a 1000 actual particle events in DELPHI. You can investigate various relationships such as branching ratios, strong coupling constant. Animated 3-D collisions. Choose known events. Can show or hide detector layers. Rotate or zoom.

Event Collider. Simulation of particles in detectors. You change energy and magnetic field. Events reflect actual percentages of type. (Often very slow loading.)

Anatomy of a Detector - Identifying Particles - D0 Detector - CDF Detector - Links