Charles Henry Sederholm

An Investigation of High Energy Electron Produced Showers Using a Computer-Controlled System

This paper contains a description of a computer-operated system for studying the development of electromagnetic showers initiated by high-energy electrons in various materials. Sample results are shown for a shower produced by a beam of 900-MeV electrons incident on a block of copper. The research program in which the system will be utilized is briefly described.

The use of an on-line digital computer in closed-loop high-energy physics☆

Abstract Since April 1965, IBM and the W. W. Hansen High-Energy Physics Laboratory at Stanford University have been engaged in a joint study of use of on-line computers in high-energy physics experiments. In the High-Energy Laboratory, electrons with energies up to 1.2 BeV, produced by the Stanford Mark III 310-ft linear accelerator, are allowed to bombard various target materials. Electrons, or secondary particles produced by the electrons, are detected with several different kinds of detectors. Information from the detectors is relayed to the data-acquisition area where it is processed and stored, while control information is fed back to nuclear instrumentation by the computer. This paper not only contains a description of the computer and instrument interfaces, but also the application-oriented programming approaches used to operate these devices in various experiments. Several different experiments using the data-acquisition computer system are described, and plans for future modifications and improvements are discussed.