Collider Particle Detector — 2D Transverse Track View

Looking along the beam: a particle leaves the collision point, curves in the solenoid field, crosses eight tracker layers and is stopped by the calorimeters or leaves through the muon chambers. Illustrative geometry, not a real experiment.

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The science

Curvature. A charge q (in units of e) with transverse momentum pT in a uniform field B along the beam moves on a circle of radius rho = pT / (0.3 q B) with rho in metres, pT in GeV/c and B in tesla. Positive charges turn clockwise in this view, negative ones counter-clockwise; a neutral particle is not bent at all.

Escape. The field is confined to the solenoid of radius R. A track leaves it only if 2 rho >= R, i.e. pT >= 0.3 q B R / 2; lower-momentum tracks curl up inside.

Sagitta and resolution. A chord of length L has sagitta s = 0.3 q B L^2 / (8 pT). Fitting a parabola through eight layers with hit resolution sigma gives delta pT / pT = sigma pT / (0.3 q B) / sqrt(sum x_i^4 / 4) for an origin-constrained fit; the measurement improves with the field and the square of the lever arm and worsens linearly with pT.

Time of flight. The speed is beta = p / E; the flight time to a layer is path length divided by beta c.

Simplifications. Ideal uniform field inside the solenoid and zero outside, no material, no multiple scattering or showers (stopping layers are drawn by particle type), tracks in the transverse plane only. The geometry is schematic.