A project at Fermilab called NuMI, or neutrinos in the main injector, is underway to produce a powerful neutrino beam to be used by a series of particle detectors at the Far Detector field near Ash River, Minnesota. The MINOS, MINERvA and NOA experiments use the NuMI beam as of June 2010.
Production of Neutrinos
Directing a proton beam from Fermilab's Main Injector to a carbon target is the first step in creating the NuMI beam. Mesons, primarily pions and kaons, are created as a result of interactions between the proton beam and the target and are directed towards the beam axis by two magnetic horns. Mesons then go through a long decay tunnel before breaking down into muons and neutrinos.
The last protons and mesons of the beam are eliminated by a hadron absorber located downstream of the decay tunnel. The ensuing earth shield absorbs the muons, while neutrinos pass through and continue to the nearby MINERvA, MINOS, and NOvA detectors at Fermilab. The neutrinos then pass through Earth before continuing into space on their way to the MINOS remote detector cave at Soudan Mine, 735 kilometers away, and the NOvA remote detector, located 810 kilometers away near Ash River, Minnesota.
Source: Wikipedia
Günceleme: 21/04/2023 10:52