Measurements of $K^0_{\textrm{S}}$, $\Lambda$ and $\bar{\Lambda}$ production in 120 GeV/$c$ p + C interactions

TL;DR

This paper reports measurements of neutral strange hadron production in 120 GeV/c proton-carbon interactions, providing essential data to improve neutrino flux predictions in long-baseline experiments.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed multiplicity measurements of $K^0_S$, $B1$, and $ar{B1}$ in 120 GeV/c p+C interactions, aiding neutrino flux modeling.

Findings

Double-differential multiplicities measured for $K^0_S$, $B1$, and $ar{B1}$

Data will improve neutrino beam flux predictions

Results used for re-weighting neutral hadron production in simulations

Abstract

This paper presents multiplicity measurements of $K^0_{\textrm{S}}$, $\Lambda$, and $\bar{\Lambda}$ produced in 120 GeV/$c$ proton-carbon interactions. The measurements were made using data collected at the NA61/SHINE experiment during two different periods. Decays of these neutral hadrons impact the measured $\pi^+$, $\pi^-$, $p$ and $\bar{p}$ multiplicities in the 120 GeV/$c$ proton-carbon reaction, which are crucial inputs for long-baseline neutrino experiment predictions of neutrino beam flux. The double-differential multiplicities presented here will be used to more precisely measure charged-hadron multiplicities in this reaction, and to re-weight neutral hadron production in neutrino beam Monte Carlo simulations.