NA61 experiment

NA61/SHINE is a particle physics experiment at the Super Proton Synchrotron at the European Organization for Nuclear Research. 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.
About 135 physicists from 14 countries and 35 institutions work in NA61/SHINE. The experiment was introduced się to Marek Gazdzicki's prior research at the NA49 experiment. NA61/SHINE is the second largest fixed target experiment at CERN.

Physics program

The NA61/SHINE physics program has been designed to measure hadron production in three different types of collisions:

In nucleus–nucleus collisions, in particular the measurement of fluctuations and long range correlations, with the aim to identify the properties of the onset of deconfinement and find evidence for the critical point of strongly interacting matter.
In proton–proton and proton–nucleus interactions needed as reference data for better understanding of nucleus–nucleus reactions; in particular with regards to correlations, fluctuations and high transverse momenta.
In hadron–nucleus interactions needed for neutrino and cosmic-ray experiments.

Detector

The NA61/SHINE experiment uses a large acceptance hadron spectrometer located on the H2 beam line in the North Area of CERN. It consist of components used by the heavy ion NA49 experiment as well as those designed and
constructed for NA61/SHINE.
The main tracking devices are four large volume time projection chambers, which are capable of detecting up to 70% of all charged particles created in the studied reactions. Two of them are located in the magnetic field of two super-conducting dipole magnets with maximum bending powers of 9 tesla meters. Two others are positioned downstream of the magnets symmetrically with respect to the beam line. Additionally, four small volume TPCs placed directly along the beamline region are used in case of hadron and light ion beams.
The setup is supplemented by time of flight detector walls, which extend particle identification to low momenta. Furthermore, the Projectile Spectator Detector is positioned downstream of the time of flight detectors to measure energy of projectile fragments.

Collected data

Type of interaction	Beam momentum	Year	Citation
+ Be	120	2016	CERN-SPSC-2017-038
+ C	30, 60, 158, and 350	2009, 2012, 2016, and 2017	CERN-SPSC-2016-038, PR D100 112004, and PR D100 112001
+ Al	60	2017	CERN-SPSC-2016-038 and PR D98 052001
Kaon + C	158	2012	CERN-SPSC-2016-038 and MPL A34 1950078
p + p	13, 20, 31, 40, 80, 158, and 400	2009, 2010, 2011, and 2016	EPJ C80 460, SQM 2019 315, and EPJ C74 2794
p + Be	60, and 120	2016 and 2017	CERN-SPSC-2017-038, and PR D100 112001
p + C p + p +	31, 60, 90, and 120	2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2016, 2017, and 2018	CERN-SPSC-2017-038, CERN-SPSC-2016-038, CERN-SPSC-2019-041, PR D100 112001 and EPJ C76 617
p + Al	60	2016	CERN-SPSC-2017-038 and NP B732 1
p + Pb	30, 40, 80 and 158	2012, 2014, 2016, and 2017	CERN-SPSC-2015-036
Be + Be	13A, 19A, 30A, 40A, 75A, and 150A	2011, 2012, and 2013	CERN-SPSC-2013-028, PoS 364 305, and EPJ C80 961
C + C and C + CH	13A	2018	CERN-SPSC-2019-041
Ar + Sc	13A, 19A, 30A, 40A, 75A and 150A	2015	CERN-SPSC-2015-036, PoS 364 305, Acta Phys. Pol. B Proc. Suppl. 10 645 and EPJ C81 397
Xe + La	13A, 19A, 30A, 40A, 75A, and 150A	2017	CERN-SPSC-2018-029 and PoS 364 305
Pb + Pb	13A, 30A, and 150A	2016 and 2018	CERN-SPSC-2016-038, J. Phys. Conf. Ser. 1690 012127 and PR C77 064908

Extended program: after Long Shutdown 2">Large Hadron Collider#Long Shutdown 2 (2018–2022)">Long Shutdown 2

In 2018 the NA61/SHINE collaboration published an addendum presenting an intent to upgrade the experimental facility and perform a new set of measurements after Long Shutdown 2. As in the original program, the new one proposes studies of hadron-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus interactions for heavy ions, neutrino and cosmic-ray physics.
The heavy ions program will focus on study of charm hadron production in lead-lead interactions.
In 2020 the SPS and PS Experiments Committee recommended approval of beam time in 2021. The Research Board endorsed these recommendations.