Results of charged pions cross-section in proton carbon interaction at 31 GeV/c measured with the NA61/SHINE detector

Abstract

Among other goals, the NA61/SHINE (SHINE=SPS Heavy Ion and Neutrino Experiment) detector at CERN SPS aims at precision hadro-production measurements to characterise the neutrino beam of the T2K experiment at J-PARC. These measurements are performed using a 31 GeV/c proton beam produced at the SPS with a thin carbon target and a full T2K replica target. Spectra of charged pion inclusive inelastic cross section were obtained from pilot data collected in 2007 1 with a 2 cm thick target (4% of the interaction length). The SHINE detector and its particle identification capabilities are described and the analysis techniques are briefly discussed.