Fig. 3: Layouts of long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiments, T2K in Japan (top) and DUNE in US (bottom). SHINE performs measurements for a precise calculation of the initial neutrino flux.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nIn the coming years, SHINE will perform pioneering measurements of charm hadrons in lead-lead collisions. They will be possible thanks to the major detector upgrade leading to a ten-fold increase in the data acquisition rate and a very high precision (below 200 micrometers) of finding decays of short-lived charm hadrons.<\/p>\n
The data recorded with the two-dimensional scans are used to search for the deconfinement critical point of strongly interacting matter \u2013 a hypothetical end point of the first-order transition line to the quark-gluon plasma that has properties of a second-order phase transition. A possible observation of a critical point signal may strongly impact future plans of SHINE.<\/p>\n
Measurements for neutrino physics<\/h3>\n The main goal of long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiments is to study transitions between neutrinos of different types: electron, muon and tau. Nowadays, key questions driving the field concern the neutrino mass hierarchy and the CP violation in neutrino oscillations.<\/p>\n
Neutrino beams are produced in a two-step process. Firstly, a very high intensity proton beam impacts a solid target about a metre long, and many hadrons (mostly pions, kaons and protons) are produced. Secondly, charged pions and kaons are focused by magnetic fields and decay. Among decay products are neutrinos, which fly through the Earth\u2019s crust to huge detectors placed many hundreds of kilometres away from laboratories where neutrino beams are produced. There, a flux of neutrinos of different types is measured.<\/p>\n
By comparing this flux to the initial flux, one extracts information on the neutrino properties. However, it is not easy to measure the initial neutrino flux with sufficient precision. To overcome this problem, the targets for long-baseline neutrino experiments can be placed in the SHINE detector, which can make precise measurements of the types and energies of the particles that emerge from the target \u2013 information that can be used to predict the neutrino beam\u2019s characteristics. SHINE has to adjust the proton beam of properties to the ones of the corresponding neutrino experiment.<\/p>\nFig. 4: SHINE conducts measurements for cosmic-ray experiments located on the Earth\u2019s ground (top) and in space (bottom).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThis type of SHINE measurement was initiated in 2007 in collaboration with the T2K experiment at J-PARC in Japan. The SHINE data greatly improved the precision of the final T2K results. The second phase of the measurements started in 2015 in collaboration with the long-baseline experiments at Fermilab in the USA. The measurements for the future neutrino oscillation experiments T2HK at J-PARC and DUNE at Fermilab will be performed within the next several years and might continue even after CERN\u2019s Long Shutdown 3. Moreover, an upgrade to the SHINE beamline by constructing a very low-energy branch is being discussed. This would allow to provide missing data to several other neutrino experiments.<\/p>\n
Measurements for cosmic-ray physics<\/h3>\n Many important physics questions can be addressed by studying high-energy protons and atomic nuclei which fly across cosmic space. They are referred to as cosmic rays and their properties are measured using various strategies.<\/p>\n
First, when impacting the Earth\u2019s atmosphere they produce showers of particles which can be detected by particle detectors placed on the ground. The data allows the reconstruction of properties of the cosmic-ray particle which initiated the shower. This requires detailed simulation of particle interactions which dominate the shower development. This strategy has been followed by the Pierre Auger Observatory in Argentina and KASCADE in Germany. Requests of these experiments motivated SHINE measurements for cosmic-ray physics. Precise information on interactions of pions \u2013 the most numerous hadrons in air showers \u2013 has been provided by SHINE.<\/p>\n
Second, cosmic rays can be measured directly by installing particle detectors on satellites, like the AMS detector on the International Space Station. Recent data from these experiments provide a unique diagnostic of cosmic-ray propagation in the Galaxy and an opportunity to find signatures of astrophysical dark matter annihilation. However, the current uncertainties in the modeling of the propagation of cosmic rays in the Galaxy are dominated by uncertainties of data on interactions of cosmic-ray protons and nuclei with interstellar medium protons. To remedy this situation, SHINE is performing new precise measurements of interactions of light nuclei on protons.<\/p>\n
The SHINE programme beyond CERN\u2019s Long Shutdown 3 is now under discussion. The versatility of the CERN facility and the unique properties of the SHINE detector motivate and inspire many ideas. They will be presented and considered at a dedicated workshop due to take place this year. The outcome of this process will lead to the proposal of new measurements as well as necessary detector and facility upgrades.<\/p>\n
Acknowledgements<\/h4>\n This work was supported by the Polish National Science Center 2018\/30 \n\/A\/ST2\/00226 and the German Research Foundation GA1480\/8-1.<\/p>\n
Please note, this article will also appear in the sixth edition of our\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>quarterly publication<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Professor Marek Gazdzicki discusses SHINE \u2013 a high energy nuclear and elementary-particle physics experiment at CERN exploring heavy-ion collisions, neutrinos, and cosmic rays.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":11427,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[771],"tags":[529,24162],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
SHINE \u2013 where the quark-gluon plasma, neutrinos, and cosmic rays meet<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n