New Results from the Cosmic-Ray Program of the NA61/SHINE facility at the CERN SPS

TL;DR

The NA61/SHINE experiment at CERN has advanced cosmic-ray physics by measuring anti-proton spectra and nuclear fragmentation cross sections, aiding understanding of air showers and cosmic ray propagation.

Contribution

This paper presents new measurements of anti-proton spectra and first results on nuclear fragmentation cross sections relevant for cosmic-ray studies.

Findings

Anti-proton momentum spectra measured at 158 and 350 GeV/c.

First measurement of Boron production cross section in C+p interactions.

Prospects for future high-precision nuclear reaction data for cosmic-ray modeling.

Abstract

The NA61/SHINE experiment at the SPS accelerator at CERN is a unique facility for the study of hadronic interactions at fixed target energies. The data collected with NA61/SHINE is relevant for a broad range of topics in cosmic-ray physics including ultrahigh-energy air showers and the production of secondary nuclei and anti-particles in the Galaxy. Here we present an update of the measurement of the momentum spectra of anti-protons produced in $\pi^-$+C interactions at 158 and 350 GeV/c and discuss their relevance for the understanding of muons in air showers initiated by ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays. Furthermore, we report the first results from a three-day pilot run aimed at investigating the capability of our experiment to measure nuclear fragmentation cross sections for the understanding of the propagation of cosmic rays in the Galaxy. We present a preliminary measurement of the production cross section of Boron in C+p interactions at 13.5 AGeV/c and discuss prospects for future data taking to provide the comprehensive and accurate reaction database of nuclear fragmentation needed in the era of high-precision measurements of Galactic cosmic rays.