These plots show the time of flight and kinetic energy of hits in the endcap detectors (cathode strip chambers(CSC's)) due to 2000 simulated minimum bias events generated by CMSIM.

The log of time of flight (tof) is plotted on the vertical axis, and the log of kinetic energy is plotted on the horizontal axis. Hits arriving less than 250ns after the bunch crossing divide themselves into two groups in time: prompt and decay. Hits arriving more than 250 ns after the event (all hits above the dashed line marked 250ns) are due to neutron capture by nuclei with subsequent photon emission. Approximately 1% of these photons produce electrons which then cause hits in the CSC's. Hits in station ME1, which is closest to the beam crossing, occur earlier than hits in station ME4, which is farthest from the beam crossing. The plot of station ME4 show that hits can occur as long as a tenth of a second after the p-p interaction which ultimately produced them.

Postscript file, ME1

Postscript file, ME4