Measurement of charged particle production from 450 GeV/c protons on beryllium

This paper presents the results on charged particle yields and production ratios as measured by the NA56/SPY experiment for 450 GeV/c proton interactions on beryllium targets. The data cover a secondary momentum range from 7 GeV/c to 135 GeV/c and values up to 600 MeV/c. An experimental accuracy on the measured yields in the range from 5% to 10%, depending on the beam momentum, and around 3% for the particle production ratios has been achieved. These measurements are relevant for a precise evaluation of fluxes and composition of neutrino beams at accelerators. Results on the target thickness and shape dependence are also reported. Inclusive invariant cross sections in the forward direction have been derived. Received: 12 January 1999 / Published online: 8 September 1999     

JINR participation in COMPASS project

A new fixed target experiment to study hadron structure and hadron spectroscopy has been approved at CERN as the CERN experiment NA58—COMPASS. An appropriate two-stage large acceptance spectrometer, with particle identification and calorimetry in both stages, using either polarized muon (100–200 GeV) or hadron (up to 300 GeV) beams and polarized as well as unpolarized targets is being constructed at CERN. The beams for the COMPASS were provided in the years 1999–2000 and physics measurements will start in the year 2001.     

HARP: a hadron production experiment for the neutrino factory and for the atmospheric neutrino flux

The HARP experiment will carry out, at the CERN PS, a large programme of measurements of secondary hadron production, over the full solid angle, produced on thin and thick nuclear targets by beams of protons and pions with momenta in the range 2 to 15 GeV/c. The first aim of the experiment is to acquire adequate knowledge of pion yields for an optimal design of the recently proposed neutrino factory. The second aim is to reduce substantially the existing 30% uncertainty in the calculation of absolute atmospheric neutrino fluxes and the 7% uncertainty in the ratio of neutrino flavours.     

Liquid scintillation detectors for high energy neutrinos

Large liquid scintillation detectors have been generally used for low energy neutrino measurements, in the MeV energy region. We describe the potential employment of large detectors (>1 kiloton) for studies of higher energy neutrino interactions, such as cosmic rays and long baseline experiments. When considering the physics potential of new large instruments the possibility of doing useful measurements with higher energy neutrino interactions has been overlooked. Here we take into account Fermat’s principle, which states that the first light to reach each PMT will follow the shortest path between that PMT and the point of origin. We describe the geometry of this process, and the resulting wavefront, which we call the “Fermat surface”, and discuss methods of using this surface to extract directional track information and particle identification. This capability may be demonstrated in the new long baseline neutrino beam from Jaeri accelerator to the KamLAND detector in Japan. Other exciting applications include the use of Hanohano as a movable long baseline detector in this same beam, and LENA in Europe for future long baseline neutrino beams from CERN. Also, this methodology opens up the question as to whether a large liquid scintillator detector should be given consideration for use in a future long baseline experiment from Fermilab to the DUSEL underground laboratory at Homestake.     

Hadroproduction experiments for precise neutrino beam calculations

The discovery of the neutrino oscillation pattern with solar and atmospheric neutrinos has stimulated systematic studies with long-baseline accelerator experiments. Precise neutrino beamline calculations have demonstrated the importance and paucity of existing hadroproduction data needed to shape the primary meson production in targets and tune available Monte Carlo codes for hadronic shower simulation. After a brief introduction to the physics of neutrino beams, available hadron production data will be reviewed with regards to their parametrization. Fast simulations based on such parameterizations and full Monte Carlo simulations of neutrino beamlines will then be illustrated. The prospective impact of new hadroproduction experiments, such as HARP at CERN and MIPP at Fermilab, will be shown together with some neutrino beamline simulations.     

Experimental limits on axion production and interaction cross sections,and decay rate

Limits on axion production in proton interactions at 26 GeV are given on the basis of some results of the Gargamelle neutrino experiment at the CERN PS.     

A measurement of the proton structure functions from neutrino-hydrogen and antineutrino-hydrogen charged-current interactions

Within the framework of the quark-parton model, the quark and anti-quark structure functions of the proton have been measured by fitting them to the distributions of the events in the Bjorkeny variable. The data used form the largest sample of neutrino and antineutrino interactions on a pure hydrogen target available, and come from exposures of BEBC to the CERN wide band neutrino and antineutrino beams. It is found that the ratiod _v /u _v of valence quark distributions falls with increasing Bjorkenx. In the context of the quark-parton model the results constrain the isospin composition of the accompanying diquark system. Models involving scattering from diquarks are in disagreement with the data.     

Experimental limits on the production of fractionally charged particles in proton-nucleus and neutrino-nucleus collisions

A search for fractionally chargedQ=1/3 (2/3) particles of different properties of interaction produced in (anti)neutrino-nucleus and in protonnucleus collisions was performed using the scintillator system of the CHARM neutrino detector at the CERN SPS. No events of the cases considered were found. In (anti)neutrino beams production was found to be less than a few times 10^?5 per interaction of a beam particle. In a proton beam an upper limit on the production cross section of ～10^?40 cm² was obtained.     

Total cross sections for ve and ve interactions and search for neutrino oscillations and decay

About 200 and 60 candidates for electron neutrino and antineutrino interactions, respectively, have been analyzed in the heavy liquid bubble chamber Gargamelle exposed to the CERN PS neutrino beam. Evidence for scaling has been found for these interactions, with slopes of the cross sections in good agreement with those obtained for muon neutrino and antineutrino events in the same chamber. No evidence appears for oscillations of neutrinos or antineutrinos, which would induce in the present experiment an excess of electron or positron events. The corresponding limits are given as functions of the mixing parameter, for the finite mass Majorana neutrinos. The possibility of a multiplicative law for the lepton number has also been investigated. A search for isolated electron-positron pairs revealed no excess in the forward direction, in contradiction to the expectation for muonic neutrino and antineutrino decays. The corresponding limits on the c.m. half lifetimes are given.     

In-beam gamma-ray spectroscopy with exotic beams at the NSCL

Projectile fragmentation provides radioactive beams at intermediate velocities (v/c = 0.3-0.5) by physical means of fragment separation. With the development of position-sensitive photon detectors it has become possible to measure the energies and directions of photons emitted in-flight from such fast-moving exotic beams. This allows the reconstruction of the photons' energies emitted from an exotic projectile with high accuracy. It can be advantageous to employ photon detection in experiments with exotic beams since photons can traverse matter easily and their attenuation can be calculated. Experiments with standard luminosities can be carried out at intermediate beam energies with thick secondary targets (order of g/cm²) and very low incident beam rates (order of particle/s or less). Experimental success in this field is strongly correlated with the development of photon detectors such as position-sensitive scintillation detectors or segmented germanium detectors. In-beam gamma-ray spectroscopy of fast exotic beams has been successfully used at all projectile fragmentation facilities in intermediate-energy heavy-ion inelastic scattering experiments, knockout reactions and fragmentation reactions. Here, we focus on experimental results for neutron-rich exotic nuclei in the π(sd )-shell. Measurements and detector developments carried out at the NSCL at Michigan State University during the last four years are discussed. Received: 1 May 2001 / Accepted: 4 December 2001     

Methods for organizing the interaction of circulating particle beams with internal targets in nuclear physics experiments at synchrotrons and storage rings

The first methods for using internal targets and their further development for organization of nuclear physics experiments at synchrotrons and storage rings are reviewed. With these methods, new results are obtained and discoveries are made in physics of interactions of elementary particles and nuclei. Current uses of various internal targets and circulating particle beams in ongoing and projected research in particle physics, relativistic nuclear and spin physics, and physics of interactions of exotic and radioactive nuclei and for producing fluxes of secondary particles (mesons, neutrons, exotic and radioactive nuclei, etc.) for physics experiments are described.     

History of accelerator neutrino beams

Neutrino beams obtained from proton accelerators were first operated in 1962. Since then, neutrino beams have been intensively used in particle physics and evolved in many different ways. We describe the characteristics of various neutrino beams, relating them to the historical development of the physics studies and discoveries. We also discuss some of the ideas still under consideration for future neutrino beams.

     

Comparative results on collimation of the SPS beam of protons and Pb ions with bent crystals

New experiments on crystal assisted collimation have been carried out at the CERN SPS with stored beams of 120 GeV/c protons and Pb ions. Bent silicon crystals of 2 mm long with about 170 μrad bend angle and a small residual torsion were used as primary collimators. In channeling conditions, the beam loss rate induced by inelastic interactions of particles with the crystal nuclei is minimal. The loss reduction was about 6 for protons and about 3 for Pb ions. Lower reduction value for Pb ions can be explained by their considerably larger ionization losses in the crystal. In one of the crystals, the measured fraction of the Pb ion beam halo deflected in channeling conditions was 74%, a value very close to that for protons. The intensity of the off-momentum halo leaking out from the collimation station was measured in the first high dispersion area downstream. The particle population in the shadow of the secondary collimator-absorber was considerably smaller in channeling conditions than for amorphous orientations of the crystal. The corresponding reduction was in the range of 2-5 for both protons and Pb ions.     

Lead beam experiments at the CERN SPS

The acceleration in 1986 of¹⁶O beams to 200 GeV/nucleon at the CERN SPS created a new frontier of particle and nuclear physics, namely the study of high energy density systems with hundreds of quarks and gluons created in the central collisions of nuclei with heavy targets. In order to produce the largest piece of “quark matter”, beams as heavy as²⁰⁸Pb are needed. The Lead-Injector Project that would provide them is presented. Possible experimental approaches to extract the physics from collisions with thousands of produced particles are discussed.     

Radioactive ions for solid-state investigations at magnetic surfaces and interfaces

Hyperfine interactions observed at isomeric states of radioactive probe nuclei are used as a tool for solid-state investigations. This method is sensitive to atomic-scale properties. In recent years surface and interface investigations using radioactive probes delivered many results which can hardly be achieved by any other method. Several groups, e.g., from Konstanz, Leuven, Groningen, Aarhus, Uppsala, Tel Aviv, Pennsylvania, contributed to this field. Our group studies magnetic properties at surfaces and interfaces performing perturbed angular correlation (PAC) measurements in the UHV chamber ASPIC (Apparatus for Surface Physics and Interfaces at CERN). We take advantage of the enhanced variety of PAC probes delivered by the on-line mass separator ISOLDE. First, we report on measurements of magnetic hyperfine fields ( B _hf) at Se adatoms on a ferromagnetic substrate using ⁷⁷Se as a PAC probe. The investigation of induced magnetic interactions in nonmagnetic materials is a further subject of our studies. Here the nonmagnetic 4d element Pd is investigated, when it is in contact with ferromagnetic nickel. An outlook will be given on studies to be done in the future. The experiments were performed at the HMI, Berlin, and at CERN, Geneva. Received: 1 May 2001 / Accepted: 4 December 2001     

Accelerator neutrino beams

Neutrino beams at from high-energy proton accelerators have been instrumental discovery tools in particle physics. Neutrino beams are derived from the decays of charged π$\pi$ and K   mesons, which in turn are created from proton beams striking thick nuclear targets. The precise selection and manipulation of the π/K$\pi /K$ beam control the energy spectrum and type of neutrino beam. This article describes the physics of particle production in a target and manipulation of the particles to derive a neutrino beam, as well as numerous innovations achieved at past experimental facilities.     

Origin of trimuon events in high-energy neutrino interactions

The properties of 76 neutrino-initiated μ^?μ^?μ⁺ events observed in the CDHS detector in the 350 GeV and 400 GeV wide-band beams at the CERN SPS are discussed. For neutrino energies > 30 GeV and muon momenta ? 4.5 GeV, the average trimuon rate is (3.0±0.4)×10^?5 of the single-muon event rate. The data are in agreement with normal charged-current interactions with the additional production of a muon pair by both hadronic and radiative processes. No evidence is found for either heavy-lepton or heavy-quark cascades. Upper limits for these two possibilities are established.     

The potential for neutrino physics at muon colliders and dedicated high current muon storage rings

Conceptual design studies are underway for muon colliders and other high-current muon storage rings that have the potential to become the first true “neutrino factories”. Muon decays in long straight sections of the storage rings would produce precisely characterized beams of electron and muon type neutrinos of unprecedented intensity. This article reviews the prospects for these facilities to greatly extend our capabilities for neutrino experiments, largely emphasizing the physics of neutrino interactions.     

Experimental study of neutral-current and charged-current neutrino cross sections

Samples of 9200 muon-neutrino and 3800 muon-antineutrino interactions on nuclei were obtained with the fine-grain calorimeter of the CHARM Collaboration at the CERN 200 GeV narrow-band neutrino beam. The interactions were classified as either neutral-current or charged-current processes on an event-by-event basis. Neutral-current and charged-current cross sections in neutrino and antineutrino interactions are presented. From these results we deduce a statistically significant contribution of right-handed coupling to the neutral hadronic current, and a value of the electroweak mixing angle corresponding to sin²θ = 0.220 ± 0.014.     

Low energy threshold corrections to neutrino masses and mixing angles

We compute the low energy threshold corrections to neutrino masses and mixing in the standard model (SM) and its minimal supersymmetric version, using the effective theory technique. We demonstrate that they stabilize the results for neutrino masses and mixing with respect to the choice of the scale to which the renormalization group (RG) equation is integrated. (This confirms the correctness of the recent re-derivation of the RGE for the SM in hep-ph/0108005.) Since, as is known, those corrections are potentially very important for phenomenology we derive for them the explicit formulae that can be applied to specific models of neutrino masses and mixing. Received: 24 October 2001 / Revised version: 19 November 2001 / Published online: 25 January 2002