The Old New Frontier: Studying the CERN-SPS Energy Range with NA61/SHINE

TL;DR

NA61/SHINE at CERN explores lower energy collisions to uncover physics phenomena like the onset of deconfinement and the critical point, complementing high-energy collider insights.

Contribution

This paper summarizes the current results, status, and future plans of the NA61/SHINE experiment focusing on lower energy hadron collisions.

Findings

Measurement of hadron spectra in hadron-nucleus collisions.

Investigation of particle properties at SPS energies.

Search for the critical point in strongly-interacting matter.

Abstract

With the Large Hadron Collider entering its third year of granting us insight into the highest collision energies to date, one should nevertheless keep in mind the unexplored physics potential of lower energies. A prime example here is the NA61/SHINE experiment at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron. Using its large-acceptance hadronic spectrometer, SHINE aims to accomplish a number of physics goals: measuring spectra of identified hadrons in hadron-nucleus collisions to provide reference for accelerator neutrino experiments and cosmic-ray observatories, investigating particle properties in the large transverse-momentum range for hadron+hadron and hadron+nucleus collisions for studying the nuclear modification factor at SPS energies, and measuring hadronic observables in a particularly interesting region of the phase diagram of strongly-interacting matter to study the onset of deconfinement and search for the critical point of strongly-interacting matter with nucleus-nucleus collisions. This contribution shall summarise results obtained so far by NA61/SHINE, as well as present the current status and plans of its experimental programme.