Systematic study of the response and calibration of the monitored drift tubes of the ATLAS muon spectrometer

The purpose of the work presented here is the study of the performance of the drift tubes of the ATLAS muon spectrometer. In particular, the analysis is focused on the development and optimization of the calibration tecnique, the study of the systematics involved and of the impact on the spatial resolution. That is the subject of the chapters from four to seven. It follows an analysis aimed the check for any evidence of degradation in the MDT preformance as a consequence of the extended exposure of the detector to the large particle flux during the accelerator operation. The first two chapters are dedicated to the description of the research program, the main characteristics of the experimental apparatus and the physical motivatons which have driven both the accelerator and the detector design with emphasis in the ATLAS Muon Spectrometer. The third chapter reviews the principles of operation of the drift tubes motivating the choice of the operating parameters of the ATLAS MDTs and the problematics related to the signal extraction. An overview of the experimental setups, the software tools and the analysis tecniques used can be found in chapter four.