Experimental particle physics is a science of many scales. A large number of physical processes spanning energies from meV to TeV must be understood for modern collider experiments to be designed, built, and conducted successfully. This thesis contributes to the understanding of phenomena across this entire dynamic range. The first half of this document studies aspects of low-energy physics that govern the operation of particle detectors, limit their performance, and guide the development of novel instrumentation. To formalise these aspects, classical electrodynamics is used to derive a...

Experimental particle physics is a science of many scales. A large number of physical processes spanning energies from meV to TeV must be understood for modern collider experiments to be designed, built, and conducted successfully. This thesis contributes to the understanding of phenomena across this entire dynamic range. The first half of this document studies aspects of low-energy physics that govern the operation of particle detectors, limit their performance, and guide the development of novel instrumentation. To formalise these aspects, classical electrodynamics is used to derive a...