Key SppS Experiments | |
---|---|
UA1 | Underground Area 1 |
UA2 | Underground Area 2 |
UA4 | Underground Area 4 |
UA5 | Underground Area 5 |
SppS pre-accelerators | |
PS | Proton Synchrotron |
AA | Antiproton Accumulator |
The Underground Area 9 (UA9) experiment is a high-energy physics experiment using particle beams from the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS), at CERN. The purpose of the experiment is to investigate how using tiny bent crystals could allow the collimation of beams in modern hadron colliders to improve. [1] UA9 was approved in 2008, and is in-progress as of 2013. [2]
Charged particles that interact with a bent crystal can be deflected by the planes of the crystal lattice. In modern hadron colliders, high power loss may be seen due to a halo of particles around the core of the beam, which threatens the stability and protection of the operation. Collimators, in a multi-stage setup, can be used to absorb these halos. The use of bent crystals as collimators would improve absorption, as the halo can be deflected at larger angles, and therefore may improve the power loss of modern hadron colliders such as the LHC. [3]
The UA9 experiment setup consists of a double crystal layout, with crystals named Crystal1 and Crystal2. The setup also contains linear and angular position actuators which align the crystals with respect to the circulating beam, as well as beam intercepting devices, detectors and beam loss monitors (BLMs). These devices test the collimation produced by the crystal. [4]
The proton beam available in the H8 beamline of the CERN SPS, where the experiment takes place, is a narrow, low-divergence 400 GeV/c beam. [5] The difference of the outgoing and incoming angles of the beam gives the deflection angle for each particle. Five pairs of silicon micro strip detectors were used to measure these angles. [6] The deflected halo is absorbed by a movable tungsten absorber. [7]
The initial results from the UA9 experiment demonstrate that crystal collimation is an achievable, reproducible technique for proton and lead ion beams. At the time, the experiment had incomplete results with regard to less reduction in the entirety of the SPS ring. [7]
Gargamelle was a heavy liquid bubble chamber detector in operation at CERN between 1970 and 1979. It was designed to detect neutrinos and antineutrinos, which were produced with a beam from the Proton Synchrotron (PS) between 1970 and 1976, before the detector was moved to the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS). In 1979 an irreparable crack was discovered in the bubble chamber, and the detector was decommissioned. It is currently part of the "Microcosm" exhibition at CERN, open to the public.
The Underground Area 2 (UA2) experiment was a high-energy physics experiment at the Proton-Antiproton Collider — a modification of the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) — at CERN. The experiment ran from 1981 until 1990, and its main objective was to discover the W and Z bosons. UA2, together with the UA1 experiment, succeeded in discovering these particles in 1983, leading to the 1984 Nobel Prize in Physics being awarded to Carlo Rubbia and Simon van der Meer. The UA2 experiment also observed the first evidence for jet production in hadron collisions in 1981, and was involved in the searches of the top quark and of supersymmetric particles. Pierre Darriulat was the spokesperson of UA2 from 1981 to 1986, followed by Luigi Di Lella from 1986 to 1990.
The UA1 experiment was a high-energy physics experiment that ran at CERN's Proton-Antiproton Collider, a modification of the one-beam Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS). The data was recorded between 1981 and 1990. The joint discovery of the W and Z bosons by this experiment and the UA2 experiment in 1983 led to the Nobel Prize for physics being awarded to Carlo Rubbia and Simon van der Meer in 1984. Peter Kalmus and John Dowell, from the UK groups working on the project, were jointly awarded the 1988 Rutherford Medal and Prize from the Institute of Physics for their outstanding roles in the discovery of the W and Z particles.
The Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) is a particle accelerator of the synchrotron type at CERN. It is housed in a circular tunnel, 6.9 kilometres (4.3 mi) in circumference, straddling the border of France and Switzerland near Geneva, Switzerland.
The High Luminosity Large Hadron Collider is an upgrade to the Large Hadron Collider, operated by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), located at the French-Swiss border near Geneva. From 2011 to 2020, the project was led by Lucio Rossi. In 2020, the lead role was taken up by Oliver Brüning.
The NA58 experiment, or COMPASS is a 60-metre-long fixed-target experiment at the M2 beam line of the SPS at CERN. The experimental hall is located at the CERN North Area, close to the French village of Prévessin-Moëns. The experiment is a two-staged spectrometer with numerous tracking detectors, particle identification and calorimetry. The physics results are extracted by recording and analysing the final states of the scattering processes. The versatile set-up, the use of different targets and particle beams allow the investigation of various processes. The main physics goals are the investigation of the nucleon spin structure and hadron spectroscopy. The collaboration consists of 220 physicists from 13 different countries, involving 28 universities and research institutes.
NA61/SHINE is a particle physics experiment at the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). The experiment studies the hadronic final states produced in interactions of various beam particles with a variety of fixed nuclear targets at the SPS energies.
The NA62 experiment is a fixed-target particle physics experiment in the North Area of the SPS accelerator at CERN. The experiment was approved in February 2007. Data taking began in 2015, and the experiment is expected to become the first in the world to probe the decays of the charged kaon with probabilities down to 10−12. The experiment's spokesperson is Cristina Lazzeroni. The collaboration involves 333 individuals from 30 institutions and 13 countries around the world.
The NA49 experiment was a particle physics experiment that investigated the properties of quark–gluon plasma. It took place in the North Area of the Super Proton Synchrotron at CERN from 1991-2002. It used a large-acceptance hadron detector to investigate reactions induced by the collision of various heavy ions on targets made of a variety of elements.
NA32, "Investigation of Charm Production in Hadronic Interactions Using High - Resolution Silicon Detectors" was a research project at CERN. The project was approved on 18 November 1982, data taking completed on 20 August 1986 and the analysis of the results was formally considered finished on 20 August 1996. The experiment was also known as ACCMOR, an acronym of the names of the collaborating research institutes which carried it out — the Amsterdam-Bristol-CERN-Cracow-Munich-Rutherford Collaboration, which was also responsible for the WA3 experiment.
Luigi Di Lella is an Italian experimental particle physicist. He has been a staff member at CERN for over 40 years, and has played an important role in major experiments at CERN such as CAST and UA2. From 1986 to 1990 he acted as spokesperson for the UA2 Collaboration, which, together with the UA1 Collaboration, discovered the W and Z bosons in 1983.
The Super Proton–Antiproton Synchrotron was a particle accelerator that operated at CERN from 1981 to 1991. To operate as a proton-antiproton collider the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) underwent substantial modifications, altering it from a one beam synchrotron to a two-beam collider. The main experiments at the accelerator were UA1 and UA2, where the W and Z bosons were discovered in 1983. Carlo Rubbia and Simon van der Meer received the 1984 Nobel Prize in Physics for their contributions to the SppS-project, which led to the discovery of the W and Z bosons. Other experiments conducted at the SppS were UA4, UA5 and UA8.
The UA5 experiment was the first experiment conducted at the Proton-Antiproton Collider, a collider using the infrastructure of the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS). The experiment was approved in February 1979, as a collaboration between CERN and the universities of Bonn, Brussels, Cambridge and Stockholm. The spokesperson of the UA5 collaboration was John Rushbrooke.
The LEP Pre-Injector (LPI) was the initial source that provided electrons and positrons to CERN's accelerator complex for the Large Electron–Positron Collider (LEP) from 1989 until 2000.
FASER is one of the nine particle physics experiments in 2022 at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. It is designed to both search for new light and weakly coupled elementary particles, and to detect and study the interactions of high-energy collider neutrinos. In 2023, FASER reported the first observation of collider neutrinos.
The Scattering and Neutrino Detector (SND) at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), CERN, is an experiment built for the detection of the collider neutrinos. The primary goal of SND is to measure the p+p --> +X process and search for the feebly interacting particles. It will be operational from 2022, during the LHC-Run 3 (2022-2024). SND will be installed in an empty tunnel- TI18 that links the LHC and Super Proton Synchrotron, 480m away from the ATLAS experiment interaction point in the fast forward region and along the beam collision axis.
The Underground Area 3 (UA3) experiment was a high-energy physics experiment at the Proton-Antiproton Collider, a modification of the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS), at CERN. The experiment ran from 1978 to 1988 with the objective of searching for magnetic monopoles. No evidence for magnetic monopoles was found by the UA3 experiment.
The Underground Area 6 (UA6), also referred to as PHOTONS, experiment was a high-energy physics experiment at the Proton-Antiproton Collider, a modification of the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS), at CERN. The experiment ran from 1984 to 1990, with the purpose of studying inclusive electromagnetic final states and lambda production in proton-antiproton and proton-proton interactions. Towards the end of its run it focused more on direct-photon and J/ψ production. The experiment is complementary to the UA1, UA2 and CDF experiments.
The Underground Area 7 (UA7) experiment was a high-energy physics experiment at the Proton-Antiproton Collider, a modification of the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS), at CERN. The purpose of the experiment was to measure the invariant cross section of photons and neutral pions (π0) emitted close to zero degrees, by using silicon shower detectors. The experiment data taking ran from 1985 to 1986, and the final analysis was completed in 1996.