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COMPASS

Studying the Structure of the Proton

COMPASS is a high-energy physics experiment at the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) at CERN  in Geneva, Switzerland. Presently the main goal of the experiment is to come up for the first with a three dimensional picture of the proton. Earlier investigations in the field of semi-inclusive scattering, polarized Drell Yan reactions and hadron spectroscopy unraveled many groundbreaking results. 

The original experiment was approved back in 1997 by CERN authorities. The centerpiece of the experiment, a two stage open field spectrometer, was installed in the following years from 1999 - 2000 and was commissioned finally in 2001. Data taking started in summer 2002 and is ongoing since then.

 

Today COMPASS is the eldest active experiment CERN. Still nearly 240 physicists from 12 countries and 23 institutions work in COMPASS, all eager to explore a new and exciting frontier in subatomic physics research.

Our group is responsible for a major part of the detector readout electronics.

 

Further Information

  • The official COMPASS Web-site at CERN 

  • Readout electronics at Freiburg:
    • GANDALF - digitization and readout framework
    • CATCH      - readout driver and front-end electronics