A New Method for the High-Precision Alignment of Track Detectors

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new linear least squares method capable of simultaneously aligning thousands of track detector parameters with high precision, demonstrated on complex detector systems.

Contribution

It presents a general approach for high-precision, simultaneous alignment of large-scale track detectors in high energy physics experiments.

Findings

Successfully aligned 1400 parameters with 50,000 tracks

Demonstrated method's sensitivity and accuracy in complex detector systems

Applicable to large-scale detector alignment problems

Abstract

Track detectors in high energy physics experiments require an accurate determination of a large number of alignment parameters. A general method has been developed, which allows the determination of up to several thousand alignment parameters in a simultaneous linear least squares fit of an arbitrary number of tracks. The sensitivity of the method is demonstrated in an example of the simultaneous alignment of a 56-plane drift chamber and a 2-plane silicon tracker. About 1400 alignment parameters are determined in a fit of about fifty thousand tracks.