Calculation of track and vertex errors for detector design studies

The Kalman filter technique has come into wide use for charged track reconstruction in high-energy physics experiments. It is also well suited for detector design studies, allowing for the efficient estimation of optimal track covariance matrices without the need of a hit level Monte Carlo simulation. Although much has been published about the Kalman filter equations, there is a lack of previous literature explaining how to implement the equations. In this paper, the operators necessary to implement the Kalman filter equations for two common detector configurations are worked out: a central detector in a uniform solenoidal magnetic field, and a fixed-target detector with no magnetic field in the region of the interactions. With the track covariance matrices in hand, vertex and invariant mass errors are readily calculable. These quantities are particularly interesting for evaluating experiments designed to study weakly decaying particles which give rise to displaced vertices. The optimal vertex errors are obtained via a constrained vertex fit. Solutions are presented to the constrained vertex problem with and without kinematic constraints. Invariant mass errors are obtained via propagation of errors; the use of vertex constrained track parameters is discussed. Many of the derivations are new or previously unpublished.<
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