What is the acceptance of the detector?

[tsinghua]

dear all

is there anybody familiar with the definition of the acceptance of detector, especially used in high energy physics? please explain it for me.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Bob S]

If you have two 10-cm diameter scintillators for cosmic rays 1 meter apart, the aperture at zero degrees incidence is about 79 cm². Also, the maximum detectable angle of incidence is about 0.1 radians (0.01 steradians), but with an elffective aperture of nearly 0 cm². The most accurate statement of acceptance is an integration of the aperture over the solid angle, giving an answer in cm²-steradians.

 

[mfb]

In particle accelerators, you usually know where the particles collide. The products of these events can now fly in every direction, but you usually cannot (or do not want) detect all products due to mechanical or cost limitations. The region where the particles can be detected is the acceptance. Sometimes the detection depends on the energy of the particles, too - in this case, your acceptance is not just a function of the direction, but of direction and energy of the particle.

 

[tsinghua]

Thank Bob S and mfb so much. Now I understand it.
best,
tsinghua