multi-wire proportional chamber
Date: 1980-1983
Inventory Number: 2004-1-0022
Classification: Counter
Subject:
Cultural Region:
Place of Origin:
Dimensions:
17.5 x 19 x 15.5 cm (6 7/8 x 7 1/2 x 6 1/8 in.)
Description:
Block made of alternating square plates of aluminum and polyresin held together by long transversal screw assembly. Each plate has square apperture through which the gamma beam passes. Two coaxial connectors protrude from one side, one coaxial connector from another. Thin polyresin cards with wire matrices and circuit connectors are sandwiched between polyresin and aluminum plates.
This apparatus was once part of a gamma-ray polarimeter.
This apparatus was once part of a gamma-ray polarimeter.
In Collection(s)
Signedunsigned
FunctionWire chambers are made of many parallel wires, arranged as a grid and put on high voltage. When a particle passes through the chamber, it leaves a trail of ions, which drift toward the nearest wire. Identifying the wires that had a pulse of current, one can see the particle's path. It is the electronic counterpart to the image method (e.g. bubble chamber).
Historical AttributesWas used at Cornell University. Part of an experimental set-up that detected the polarization of the positron beam in the Cornell Electron Storage Ring (CESR) with a polarimeter which detects back-scattered laser light.
Primary SourcesW. W. McKay, et al., "Measurement of the Upsilon Mass," Physical Review D 29 (1984): 2483-2490. (see fig. 3)
ProvenanceFrom Prof. Richard Wilson, Department of Physics, Harvard University.
See the personal page of Prof. Wilson: http://phys4.harvard.edu/~wilson/
See the personal page of Prof. Wilson: http://phys4.harvard.edu/~wilson/