https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/i2009-10807-5
Special Article - Tools for Experiment and Theory
The high-acceptance dielectron spectrometer HADES
1
Institute of Physics, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 84228, Bratislava, Slovakia
2
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, 95125, Catania, Italy
3
Smoluchowski Institute of Physics, Jagiellonian University of Kraków, 30-059, Kraków, Poland
4
GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, 64291, Darmstadt, Germany
5
Institut für Strahlenphysik, Forschungszentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, 01314, Dresden, Germany
6
Joint Institute of Nuclear Research, 141980, Dubna, Russia
7
Institut für Kernphysik, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, 60438, Frankfurt, Germany
8
II. Physikalisches Institut, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, 35392, Gießen, Germany
9
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Milano, 20133, Milano, Italy
10
Institute for Nuclear Research, Russian Academy of Science, 117312, Moscow, Russia
11
Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics, 117218, Moscow, Russia
12
Physik Department E12, Technische Universität München, 85748, München, Germany
13
Department of Physics, University of Cyprus, 1678, Nicosia, Cyprus
14
Institut de Physique Nucléaire (UMR 8608), CNRS/IN2P3 - Université Paris Sud, F-91406, Orsay Cedex, France
15
Nuclear Physics Institute, Academy of Sciences of Czech Republic, 25068, Rez, Czech Republic
16
Departamento de Física de Partículas, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, 15706, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
17
Instituto de Física Corpuscular, Universidad de Valencia-CSIC, 46971, Valencia, Spain
18
Université Blaise Pascal/Clermont II, 63177, Clermont-Ferrand, France
19
Moscow Engineering Physics Institute, State University, 115409, Moscow, Russia
20
ExtreMe Matter Institute, GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, D-64291, Darmstadt, Germany
21
Technical University Darmstadt, D-64289, Darmstadt, Germany
22
Pantwowa Wyzsza Szkola Zawodowa, 33-300, Nowy Sacz, Poland
23
Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Università di Catania, 95125, Catania, Italy
24
Technische Universität Dresden, 01062, Dresden, Germany
25
Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Milano, 20133, Milano, Italy
* e-mail: salabura@if.uj.edu.pl
Received:
6
March
2009
Revised:
22
May
2009
Accepted:
22
May
2009
Published online:
3
July
2009
HADES is a versatile magnetic spectrometer aimed at studying dielectron production in pion, proton and heavy-ion-induced collisions. Its main features include a ring imaging gas Cherenkov detector for electron-hadron discrimination, a tracking system consisting of a set of 6 superconducting coils producing a toroidal field and drift chambers and a multiplicity and electron trigger array for additional electron-hadron discrimination and event characterization. A two-stage trigger system enhances events containing electrons. The physics program is focused on the investigation of hadron properties in nuclei and in the hot and dense hadronic matter. The detector system is characterized by an 85% azimuthal coverage over a polar angle interval from 18° to 85° , a single electron efficiency of 50% and a vector meson mass resolution of 2.5%. Identification of pions, kaons and protons is achieved combining time-of-flight and energy loss measurements over a large momentum range ( 0.1 < p < 1.0 GeV/c . This paper describes the main features and the performance of the detector system.
PACS: 21.65.Jk Mesons in nuclear matter – / 25.75.Cj Photon, lepton, and heavy quark production in relativistic heavy ion collisions – / 29.30.-h Spectrometers and spectroscopic techniques – / 29.85.Ca Data acquisition and sorting –
© SIF, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2009