https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/202328305002
Status of the LHCf experiment
1 Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan
2 INFN Section of Florence, Florence, Italy
3 University of Florence, Florence, Italy
4 Ecole-Polytechnique, Palaiseau, France
5 Kobayashi-Maskawa Institute for the Origin of Particles and the Universe, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan
6 Faculty of System Engineering, Shibaura Institute of Technology, Japan
7 INFN Section of Catania, Italy
8 University of Catania, Catania, Italy
9 Centro Siciliano di Fisica Nucleare e di Struttura della Materia, CSFNSM, Catania, Italy
10 IFAC-CNR, Florence, Italy
11 ICRR, University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Japan
12 Tokushima University, Tokushima, Japan
13 Kanagawa University, Kanagawa, Japan
14 RISE, Waseda University, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
15 LBNL, Berkeley, California, USA
* Corresponding author: ohashi.ken@isee.nagoya-u.ac.jp
Published online: 28 April 2023
A precise understanding of hadronic interactions is essential to interpreting the mass composition of ultra-high energy cosmic rays from the results of air shower experiments. The Large Hadron Collier forward (LHCf) experiment aims to measure forward neutral particles for validation of hadronic interaction models adopted in air shower simulations. We already published the production cross sections of forward photons and neutrons for proton-proton collisions at √s=13 TeV. Recently, we showed a preliminary result of the energy spectrum of forward η mesons for proton-proton collisions at √s=13 TeV. Moreover, in September 2022, we had another data-taking for proton-proton collisions at √s=13.6 TeV. In data taking, we planned to obtain a number of π0 and η candidates ten times larger for precise measurements and to perform the joint operation with ATLAS Roman pots and zero-degree calorimeters. Thanks to the joint operation with the ATLAS Roman pots, we can measure diffractive mass and neutral particles from diffractive dissociation simultaneously. Furthermore, energy resolution for neutrons is expected to be improved from 40% to 20% by combining the LHCf and the ATLAS zero-degree calorimeters. In this work, we report the status and prospects of the LHCf experiment.
© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2023
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