As explained in the previous installment of this series, these questions are a warm-up for my younger colleagues, who will in two months have to pass a tough exam to become INFN researchers.

A disclaimer is useful here. Here it is:

I offer these questions as a self-test of one's knowledge in particle physics. I am not part of the INFN selection committee. I have no connection to the selection committee, nor any insider information on how the exam will be structured. All I know about it is what is contained in the official call, available to everybody. I do have some previous experience with INFN selections of researchers, but this needs not be relevant for the present one.


Okay, so today's question:


You are given three silicon microstrip detectors to instrument a region downstream of the target in a fixed target experiment. The strips have a pitch of 60 micrometers. The region is immersed in a uniform magnetic field of 1 Tesla. Your goal is to determine with high precision the momentum of charged particles. Discuss possible arrangements and the resolution one can obtain on particle momenta in the chosen situation.