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Using cosmic rays to calibrate the detector is really cool! > Knowing the exact position of each wire is crucial to getting an accurate trajectory. For the new
by derekdahmer 5y ago
Using cosmic rays to calibrate the detector is really cool!
> Knowing the exact position of each wire is crucial to getting an accurate trajectory. For the new analysis, Kotwal and his colleagues took advantage of muons that rain down from the sky as cosmic rays. These bulletlike particles constantly rip through the detector in almost perfectly straight lines, letting the researchers detect any wonky wires and pin down the wires’ positions to within 1 micrometer.
- nathancahill 5y agoStraight out of The Three-Body Problem
- thunderbong 5y agoThat's sheer genius!
- oyoman 5y agoJust to let people knows: actually it is the common way to calibrate detectors and especially cylindrical detector system with a solenoid magnet. So nothing special in this.
- Intermernet 5y agoJust because it's common doesn't mean it's not special! (Actually, it sort-of by definition does mean that, but come on! It's still awesomely cool!)
- WithinReason 5y agoI think it's still cool.