Radiation and Detectors

The aim of the book is to provide an introduction to radiation, the physics mechanisms behind particle detectors, and the exploitation of those mechanisms in actual devices, including the combination of different detectors in an experimental apparatus. The understanding of each of these areas and their interplay is considered crucial and therefore much attention is given in the book to define and explain the language and the basic principles with very few assumptions. The mathematical formalism is kept to a minimum, but simple derivations are presented in order to guide the reasoning and understanding of the working principles. The first five chapters are dedicated to radiation: it is presented starting with an overview of particles and forces and an extended review of the most common natural and man-made sources of radiation, including an introduction to particle accelerators. Particular attention is paid to real life examples, which place the types of radiation and their energy in context.Dosimetry is presented from a modern, user-led point of view, and relativistic kinematics is introduced to give the basic knowledge needed to handle the more formal aspects of radiation dynamics and interaction. The explanation of the physics principles of interaction between radiation and matter is given significant space to allow a deeper understanding of the various technologies based on those principles. Chapter 6 is dedicated to the ionization mechanism, which forms the basis of gaseous (chapter 7), semiconductors (chapter 8) and, in some sense, scintillation (chapter 9) detectors. Chapter 10 covers a number of additional phenomena, including multiple scattering, bremsstrahlung, Compton scattering, pair production, Cherenkov and transition radiation. Chapters 12 and 13 are again dedicated to technologies, those of calorimeters and neutrino detectors, respectively. An introduction to statistics and probability distributions is presented in Appendix. Throughout the book, the mathematical formalism is kept to a minimum, but simple derivations are presented in order to guide the reasoning and understanding of the working principles. Examples are presented regularly.This book will be of interest to undergraduate students, graduate students and readers wishing to become aware of how radiation and its exploitation are becoming more and more relevant in the modern world.