A TPC for measuring high multiplicity events at RHIC

The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider ran for the first time in the summer of 2000 with Au beams circulating at rootS(NN) = 130 GeV and at approximately 100,0 of the machine's final design luminosity. We gathered data with the STAR Time Projection Chamber for 2 months and recorded events over a wide dynamic range of particle momenta and multiplicities. We reconstructed tracks with momenta from as low as 100 MeV/c to above 3 GeV/c, and we observed collisions with multiplicities ranging from 1 or 2 tracks per event in ultraperipheral collisions to 3000 tracks per event in central collisions. I will report on the design and performance of the STAR TPC in this demanding environment. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.