Abstract

This paper presents several measurements of total production cross sections and total inelastic cross sections for the following reactions: $\pi^{+}$+C, $\pi^{+}$+Al, $K^{+}$+C, $K^{+}$+Al at 60 GeV/c, $\pi^{+}$+C and $\pi^{+}$+Al at 31 GeV/c . The measurements were made using the NA61/SHINE spectrometer at the CERN SPS. Comparisons with previous measurements are given and good agreement is seen. These interaction cross sections measurements are a key ingredient for neutrino flux prediction from the reinteractions of secondary hadrons in current and future accelerator-based long-baseline neutrino experiments.

Highlights

  • The NA61 or SPS Heavy Ion and Neutrino Experiment (SHINE) [1] at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) has a broad physics program that includes heavy ion physics, cosmic ray physics, and neutrino physics

  • NA61/SHINE has already been very successful at measuring the yields of secondary hadrons generated by 31 GeV=c protons on carbon targets [2,3] for the Tokai-to-Kamioka (T2K) long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment [4]

  • The NuMI beam line is initiated by 120 GeV=c protons on a carbon target, while LBNF will use 60–120 GeV=c protons on a carbon or beryllium target

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Summary

INTRODUCTION

The NA61 or SPS Heavy Ion and Neutrino Experiment (SHINE) [1] at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) has a broad physics program that includes heavy ion physics, cosmic ray physics, and neutrino physics. In addition to the interactions of the primary protons in the neutrino beam targets, a significant fraction of the neutrinos result from hadrons coming from the reinteractions of 10–60 GeV=c energy pions, protons, and kaons in the carbon target, aluminum horns, and other beam line materials. As a result of this setup, data taking was optimized for making measurements of the total production and total inelastic cross sections for each interaction. Three BPDs, which are proportional wire chambers, are located 30.39, 9.09, and 0.89 m upstream of the target and determine the location of the incident beam particle to an accuracy of ∼100 μm For these 2015 data, the interactions of p, πþ, and Kþ beams were measured on thin carbon and aluminum targets

Fold Coincidence 6 Fold Coincidence
Event selection
INTERACTION TRIGGER CROSS SECTIONS
CORRECTION FACTORS
Beam composition correction factors
Target density uncertainty
Out-of-target interactions
S4 size uncertainty and efficiency
Beam composition uncertainty
Model uncertainties
RESULTS
VIII. SUMMARY
Full Text
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