The ATLAS central solenoid

The ATLAS detector at the CERN LHC is equipped with a superconducting magnet system consisting of three large toroids and a solenoid. The 2.3 m diameter, 5.3 m long solenoid is located at the heart of the experiment where it provides a 2 T field for spectrometry of the particles emanating from the interaction of the counter-rotating beams of hadrons. As the electromagnetic calorimeter of the experiment is situated outside the solenoid, the coil must be as transparent as possible to traversing particles. The magnet, which was designed at KEK, incorporates progress in technology coming from the development of previous solenoids of this type, in particular that of a new type of reinforced superconductor addressing the requirement of transparency. Special attention has been paid to ensuring reliability and ease of operation of the magnet, through the application of sufficiently conservative guidelines for the mechanical and electrical design, stringent testing during manufacture, and a comprehensive commissioning program. This report gives an overview of the design, manufacture, test, installation and commissioning of the ATLAS central solenoid.