DIRAC: A High Resolution Spectrometer for Pionium Detection

Abstract

The DIRAC spectrometer has been commissioned at CERN with the aim of detecting ${\pi }^{+}{\pi }^{-}$ atoms produced by a 24 GeV/$c$ high intensity proton beam in thin foil targets. A challenging apparatus is required to cope with the high interaction rates involved, the triggering of pion pairs with very low relative momentum, and the measurement of the latter with resolution around 0.6 MeV/$c$. The general characteristics of the apparatus are explained and each part is described in some detail. The main features of the trigger system, data-acquisition, monitoring and setup performances are also given.

49 pages, 37 figures. Figures 1, 2, 5 and 28 are removed because of size limitations imposed by hep-ex. They don't offer essential information. Latex class file 'elsart.cls' also provided

References in corpus (1)

• Drift chamber readout system of the DIRAC experiment

Cited by in corpus (11)

• First measurement of the ${\pi }^{+}{\pi }^{-}$ atom lifetime
• Determination of $\pi \pi$ scattering lengths from measurement of ${\pi }^{+}{\pi }^{-}$ atom lifetime
• First $\pi K$ atom lifetime and $\pi K$ scattering length measurements
• Detection of ${\pi }^{+}{\pi }^{-}$atoms with the DIRAC spectrometer at CERN
• Gas gain and signal length measurements with a triple-GEM at different pressures of Ar-, Kr- and Xe-based gas mixtures
• Evidence for $\pi K$-atoms with DIRAC
• Isospin Breaking in $K_{\ell 4}$ Decays of the Neutral Kaon
• Exclusive photon-fusion production of even-spin resonances and exotic QED atoms in high-energy hadron collisions
• New Preshower detector for DIRAC Experiment
• R&D Proposal, RD51 Extension Beyond 2018
• Possible manifestation of the 2p pionium in particle physics processes