Detection of High-Energy Particles
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Date
2006-11-08T20:40:23Z
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Abstract
In spite of quantum field theoretical and philosophical problems to
define the concept of elementary particles and to understand
their localizability, particles become intuitively apparent
by the traces they leave in particle detectors.
Today, experimental particle physicists have reached a high degree
of perfection in measuring and visualizing particles up to highest
energies using a variety of high technology detection devices and
sophisticated, powerful particle accelerators. The paper reviews the
basic detection techniques and puts the microscopic quantum field
theoretical processes of interest into perspective with the
measurements performed at macroscopic scales. It is shown that particle
detectors and accelerators are highly classical devices which localize
particles without significantly affecting the tails of their wave
functions. It is discussed which properties of particles can be
measured and how these measurements relate to the dynamics of
elementary particles at microscopic length scales.
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Keywords
particle detectors, particle localizability, relativistic particles