Summary

The ATLAS detector consists of two independent tracking devices: the Inner Detector (ID) close to the interaction region and the Muon System (MS). While the Inner Detector reconstruction has to deal with the high track density that imposes a large number of combinatorial track candidates, the Muon System track reconstruction is mainly limited by the huge amount of inert material, the cavern background and the highly inhomogeneous magnetic field. In the past - especially during the design phase of the ATLAS experiment - the ATLAS track reconstruction software consisted for both, ID and MS, of several competing reconstruction programs, each of which incorporating its own event data model, different reconstruction geometries, varying concepts in material integration and separate philosophies in algorithmic sequence and steering. A new track reconstruction (NEWT) has been deployed that is based on a common Event Data Model and the definition of interfaces that represent the various tasks (of different hierarchical level) of the reconstruction application. It is designed in a component pattern structure that eases the integration of new developed track reconstruction modules and guarantees maintainability during the long lifetime of the ATLAS experiment. Being just half a year before the startup of the ATLAS experiment, a review of NEWT in both design and performance will be presented.

-- AndreasSalzburger - 10 May 2007