The ATLAS Solenoid Magnet

A magnet surrounding the detectors bends the paths of charged particles. This shows if they are positively - or negatively- charged and also allows their momentum to be measured. Inside ATLAS, the solenoid magnet surrounding the tracking detectors must be as thin as possible, so as not to affect their measurements. 9 km of superconducting wires, support casing, cooling fluids and insulation is squeezed into the 4.5 cm gap between the tracking detectors and the calorimeters. ATLAS is one of the 4 large experiments surrounding collision points at the Large Hadron Collider.