Particle identification performance of a straw transition radiation tracker prototype

Abstract An 864 channel prototype of an integrated straw tracker and transition radiation detector for tracking and electron identification has been tested with and without magnetic field at the CERN SPS. The rejection against hadrons and converted photons has been measured and the dependence of the rejection power on detection parameters has been investigated. Tracking and hadron rejection were also studied in a high multiplicity environment. The results are compared with Monte Carlo simulations. Wherever possible, conclusions are drawn concerning the performance of a full-scale detector at the future Large Hadron Collider.