First year operational experience with the Cherenkov detector (DIRC) of BABAR

The DIRC (acronym for Detection of Internally Reflected Cherenkov (light)) is a new type of Cherenkov ring imaging detector based on total internal reflection that is used for the first time in the BABAR detector at PEP-II ring of SLAC. The Cherenkov radiators are long rectangular bars made of synthetic fused silica. The photon detector is a water tank equipped with an array of 10,752 conventional photomultipliers. The first year operational experience in the BABAR detector is presented using cosmic data and collision data in the energy region of the /spl Upsi/(4S) resonance.