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q&a: the experiment

Among the four RHIC experiments, what is STAR's specialty?

The core of STAR was designed to measure and identify as many particles as possible emitted perpendicular to the beam direction. For this reason, STAR has a cylindrical geometry that surrounds the intersection of the colliding beams. Measuring as much as possible gives STAR the ability to study broad characteristics of the collisions. New detector systems have recently been added (and more are planned) that will allow more specialized studies, such as electron & photon production in nuclear collisions.

Why is the experiment called STAR?

STAR is an acronym for Solenoidal Tracker At RHIC. Solenoidal refers to the cylindrical geometry of the STAR magnet. Tracker refers to STAR's ability to reconstruct (or "track") particle trajectories over a large distance, providing strong particle identification and momentum determination capabilities.


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webmaster Last modified: Jun 19 2013 10:36.