AMBER -- A Strong-Interaction Facility at CERN

TL;DR

AMBER at CERN is a fixed-target facility designed to explore hadron structure and excitation spectra through unique experiments involving antiproton production, proton form factors, and meson quark PDFs, with future plans for kaon beam studies.

Contribution

The paper introduces the AMBER facility at CERN, detailing its capabilities for advanced hadron research and outlining its initial physics program and future expansion plans.

Findings

Measurement of antiproton production cross sections

Precise proton electric form factor data at small momentum transfer

Determination of pion and kaon quark PDFs

Abstract

AMBER (NA66) is a fixed-target facility at the M2 beam line of CERN SPS, which performs worldwide unique research on the internal structure and the excitation spectrum of hadrons. The approved first phase of the experiment focuses on three main physics topics: (i) the measurement of the production cross section of antiprotons in $p-\text{He}$ and $p-p/d$ collisions over a wide energy range; (ii) the precise measurement of the electric form factor of protons at small momentum transfers using a high-energy muon beam; (iii) the determination of pion and kaon quark PDFs through Drell-Yan and charmonium production measurements with negative and positive meson beams. Phase-2 will focus on measurements with an intense kaon beam. The high-energy muon, pion and kaon beams required for these measurements are only available at CERN.