H1 (particle detector)

H1 was a particle detector operated at the HERA (Hadron Elektron Ring Anlage) collider at the German national laboratory DESY in Hamburg. The first studies for the H1 experiment were proposed in 1981. The H1 detector began operating together with HERA in 1992 and took data until 2007. It consisted of several different detector components, measured about 12 m × 15 m × 10 m and weighed 2800 tons. It was one of four detectors along the HERA accelerator. The main physics goals of the H1 experiment were the investigation of the internal structure of the proton through measurements of deep inelastic scattering, the measurements of further cross sections to study fundamental interactions between particles in order to test the Standard Model of particle physics, as well as the search for new kinds of matter and unexpected phenomena in particle physics. Scientists continue to publish scientific papers based on data taken by the H1 experiment until today, and the detailed knowledge of the proton gained through experiments like H1 laid the foundation to much of the science done at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the CERN particle physics laboratory today. The name H1 is used for both the detector itself and the collaboration of physicists and technicians who operated the experiment. The construction of a lepton–proton collider was recommended strongly by the European Committee for Future Accelerators (ECFA) on May 9, 1980. The first proposals for the H1 detector were made in 1981, and the letter of intent for the H1 experiment was published on June 28, 1985. The technical proposal for the H1 detector was finalized on March 25, 1986. The H1 detector was operational with the first collisions of HERA in 1992. It was upgraded during the HERA luminosity upgrade for the HERA II running period from 2000 to 2003. The H1 detector then took data until the shutdown of HERA in June 2007 and was mostly dismantled afterwards. Several subdetector components are now exhibited in the HERA Hall West at DESY.