Physics and Detector Response Simulations

Abstract

As the complexity and resolution of modern detectors increases, the need for detailed simulation of the experimental setup also becomes more important. Designing detector systems composed of many disparate subsystems requires efficient tools to simulate the detector response and reconstruct the events. Comparisons of different technology options, or geometric layouts, are facilitated if the results can be obtained with a common simulation and reconstruction framework. We have developed efficient and flexible tools for detailed physics and detector response simulation as well as event reconstruction and analysis. The primary goal has been to develop a software toolkit and computing infrastructure to allow physicists from universities and labs to quickly and easily conduct physics analyses and contribute to detector research and development with a minimal investment of time and effort. The application harnesses the full power of the Geant4 toolkit without requiring the end user to have any experience with either Geant4 or C++, thereby allowing the user to concentrate on the physics of the detector system. The reconstruction software and analysis environment are written in Java, providing a modern, object-oriented platform which is independent of the computing operating system.