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arXiv · 1810.00642

Recent results from the cosmic ray program of the NA61/SHINE experiment

Raul R. Prado
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Abstract

NA61/SHINE is a fixed target experiment designed to study hadron-proton, hadron-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus interactions at the CERN Super-Proton-Synchrotron. In this paper we summarize the results from pion-carbon collisions recorded at beam momenta of 158 and 350 GeV/c. Hadron production measurements in this type of interactions is of fundamental importance for the understanding of the muon production in extensive air showers. In particular, production of (anti)baryons and $ρ^0$ are mechanisms responsible for increasing the number of muons which reaches the ground. The underestimation of the (anti)baryons or $ρ^0$ production rates in current hadronic interaction models could be one of the sources of the excess of muons observed by cosmic ray experiments. The results on the production spectra of $π^{\pm}$, K$^{\pm}$, p, $\bar{\text{p}}$, $Λ$, $\barΛ$, K$^{0}_\text{S}$, $ρ^0$, $ω$ and K$^{0*}$ are presented, as well as their comparison to predictions of hadronic interaction models currently used in air shower simulations.

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Raul R. Prado. 2018-10-01. Recent results from the cosmic ray program of the NA61/SHINE experiment. https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf%2F201920805006

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