Particle Physics Questions Part Three (Accelerators/Detectors)

After a review of the pages linked from the Physics section (including those references contained in the introductory remarks and under the figures), you should be able to answer all of the following questions. Note the key vocabulary words are in italics.

The following questions refer to the physics of accelerators and detectors.

1. Diagram a linear accelerator (LINAC) and a circular accelerator. Point out some ways that a LINAC differs from a circular accelerator. In what types of experiments have LINACs been successfully used?

2. Describe at least two effects in a circular accelerator that cause a particle to accelerate.

3. Explain the key physics differences between fixed target and collision experiments.

4. What are the main reasons that higher energy accelerators are necessary in particle physics?

5. What are the major components of the detector in a high-energy particle collison experiment (like D0 and CDF at Fermilab)? What are the functions of each of those components?

6. What is the effect of the magnetic field in the detectors used for a collision experiment? How do we detect particles that are not influenced by magnetic fields?

7. Explain how a particle collision demonstrates the vector conservation of momentum.

8. Some collision products are particles that decay very rapidly. They do not travel far enough from the collision site to enter the detector. What types of evidence establish the presence of these particles?