Space Charge Effects in the S$\pi$RIT Time Projection Chamber

Abstract

Time projection chambers (TPCs) are widely used in nuclear and particle physics. They are particularly useful when measuring reaction products from heavy ion collisions. Most nuclear experiments at low energy are performed in a fixed target configuration, in which the unreacted beam will pass through the detection volume. As the beam intensity increases, the buildup of positive ions created from the ionization of the detector gas by the beam creates the main source of space charge, distorting the nominal electric field of the TPC. This has a profound effect on the accuracy of the measured momenta of the emitted particles. In this paper we will discuss the magnitude of the effects and construct an observable more appropriate for fixed target experiments to study the effects. We also will present an algorithm for correcting the space charge and some of the implications it has on the momentum determination.

arXiv comment9 pages, 10 figures

References in corpus (6)

• The STAR Time Projection Chamber: A Unique Tool for Studying High Multiplicity Events at RHIC
• Probing the High Density Behaviour of Nuclear Symmetry Energy with High Energy Heavy-Ion Collisions
• Subthreshold pion production within a transport description of central Au+Au collisions
• S$\pi$RIT: A time-projection chamber for symmetry-energy studies
• The MicroBooNE Experiment and the Impact of Space Charge Effects
• A Gating Grid Driver for Time Projection Chambers

Cited by in corpus (6)

• Probing the Symmetry Energy with the Spectral Pion Ratio
• Symmetry energy investigation with pion production from Sn+Sn systems
• The S$\pi$RIT Time Projection Chamber
• Isoscaling in central Sn+Sn collisions at 270 MeV/u
• Charged particle track reconstruction with S$\pi$RIT Time Projection Chamber
• Applying machine learning to determine impact parameter in nuclear physics experiments