DOE OSTI2015
The Main Injector Particle Production (MIPP) experiment is a fixed target hadron production experiment at Fermilab. MIPP is a high acceptance spectrometer which provides excellent charged particle identification using Time Projection Chamber (TPC), Time of Flight (ToF), multicell Cherenkov (Ckov), ring imaging Cherenkov (RICH) detectors, and Calorimeter for neutrons. The MIPP experiment is designed to measure particle production in interactions of 120 GeV/c primary protons from the Main Injector and secondary beams of $\pi^{\pm}, \rm{K}^{\pm}$, p and $\bar{\rm{p}}$ from 5 to 90 GeV/c on nuclear targets which include H, Be, C, Bi and U, and a dedicated run with the NuMI target. The goal of the experiment is to measure hadron production cross sections or yields using these beams and targets. These hadronic interaction data can have a direct impact on the detailed understanding of the neutrino fluxes of several accelerator-based neutrino experiments like MINOS, MINER$\nu$A, NO$\ nu$A and ELBNF. In this thesis, we present inelastic cross section measurements for 58 and 85 GeV/c p+p interactions, and 58 and 120 GeV/c p+Be, p+C and p+Bi interactions. A new method is described to account for the low multiplicity inefficiencies in the interaction trigger using KNO scaling. Inelastic cross sections as a function of multiplicity are also presented for p+H and p+C interactions at different beam momenta. The MIPP data are compared with the Monte Carlo predictions and existing data. We also describe an algorithm to identify charged particles ($\pi^{\pm}/\rm{p}/\bar{\rm{p}}$ etc.), and present the inclusive charged pion production cross sections in bins of true momentum using 58 and 120 GeV/c p+C interactions for both the data and Monte Carlo.
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗