With the North Area beamlines being ready, the physics start on 10 April marks the beginning of what promises to be an exciting season filled with physics.
The first beams in CERN's North Area, one of the most important facilities for fixed-target experiments and test beam users worldwide, kicked off the physics run on 10 April after a successful commissioning phase led by the BE-EA-LE section. The preparatory work of the EA and other ATS technical teams laid the indispensable groundwork for the successful execution of both hardware and beam commissioning, now looking forward to an exciting season of physics research.
The beam lines were fully commissioned by April 9, each seeing significant advancements and fine-tuning thanks to the team’s availability to work through the Easter holiday period and on weekends. This dedication helped compensate for downtime from LINAC4 and the PS Booster during the commissioning. This year, a systematic approach for tuning of all the beam lines has been emphasized, including the development of dedicated tuning procedures that have been successfully validated during the commissioning.
Among the highlights of this year’s beam commissioning is the reactivation of the H4-VLE beam after more than 5 years, which will serve again the Proto-DUNE Single-Phase Liquid Argon TPC at the Neutrino Platform. In addition, several optics checks have been performed in the P42 and H6 beam lines with so-called kick response and quadrupole scans as part of an effort to make procedures comparable to those used in the accelerators. The involvement of two fellows in leading these measurements has been particularly motivating for the team, spurring further enthusiasm for contributing to the next generation of control software currently under development.
The commissioning also focused on understanding electron beam performance in the North Area. The highly sought-after electron beam lines H4 and H2, often reserved for demanding fixed-target experiments such as NA64, have confirmed their capability to meet high standards of purity and intensity. Yet many other users stand in line to test their latest detector developments for the next generation of experiments, even already for the future FCC-ee. With promising results from the H6 and H8 beam lines, the future looks bright for accommodating more users requiring quality electron beams for testing their latest detector technologies.
One critical item is the commissioning of the M2 CEDAR detectors, which have been recently refurbished. These detectors are instrumental in determining the type of high-energy charged particle – such as protons, kaons, or pions – using the Cherenkov effect. This is crucial for experiments such as NA61, NA62, and AMBER, which require precise identification of particle types for their specific measurements.
“With all beam lines now operational, we are well-equipped to support a diverse range of scientific experiments and test beams,” summarises Johannes Bernhard, LE section leader. “We are eagerly looking forward to it.”