Track segments in hadronic showers in a highly granular scintillator-steel hadron calorimeter

TL;DR

This paper explores the detailed 3D structure of hadronic showers in a highly granular calorimeter, using track segments to analyze secondary particle production and compare with simulations, also enabling potential in-situ calibration.

Contribution

It introduces a method to identify track segments within hadronic showers in a highly granular calorimeter, enhancing understanding of shower substructure and aiding calibration.

Findings

Track segments reveal detailed spatial structure of hadronic showers.

Comparison with GEANT4 models shows varying accuracy in simulations.

Track segments can be used for in-situ calibration of calorimeters.

Abstract

We investigate the three dimensional substructure of hadronic showers in the CALICE scintillator-steel hadronic calorimeter. The high granularity of the detector is used to find track segments of minimum ionising particles within hadronic showers, providing sensitivity to the spatial structure and the details of secondary particle production in hadronic cascades. The multiplicity, length and angular distribution of identified track segments are compared to GEANT4 simulations with several different shower models. Track segments also provide the possibility for in-situ calibration of highly granular calorimeters.