<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <articles> <article xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink/"> <front> <publisher> <publisher-name/> <publisher-loc/> </publisher> <article-meta> <title-group> <article-title>Design of a New Low-Energy Beamline in CERN鈥檚 North Area for the NA61/SHINE Experiment</article-title> </title-group> <article-id pub-id-type="publisher-id"/> <contrib-group> <contrib contrib-type="author"> <name> <surname>Mussolini</surname> <given-names>Carlo Alberto</given-names> </name> <aff> <institution>Oxford U.</institution> </aff> </contrib> </contrib-group> <pub-date pub-type="pub"> <year>2023</year> </pub-date> <self-uri xlink:href="http://cds.cern.ch/record/2911289"/> <self-uri xlink:href="http://cds.cern.ch/record/2911289/files/CERN-THESIS-2023-413.pdf"/> </article-meta> <abstract>One of the largest North Area fixed-target experiments at CERN, NA61/SHINE, has shown interest in cross-section measurements involving protons, pions, and kaons in the 2 to 13 GeV/c momentum range. However, the current infrastructure in CERN鈥檚 North Area Experimental Hall proves to be unsuitable for the transport of particles in these low-momentum ranges. For this reason, the design and optimisation of a new tertiary beamline branch which will serve NA61/SHINE and other future experiments is necessary and will constitute the subject of this D.Phil thesis. Specifically, in this thesis, the entire design process of this new low-energy beamline has been addressed. Extensive studies into the optimisation of the secondary target and primary beam energy which will be used to produce the low-energy hadrons have been performed, leading to the selection of three targets aiming to optimise the beamline performance in different scenarios. Furthermore, significant work has gone into developing a novel optimisation process to meet the design specifications imposed by the experiment onto the beamline. This novel optimisation procedure has been used to maximise the beamline鈥檚 acceptance while providing a good momentum resolution and small beam- spot size to the experiment. The performance of this beamline design has then been extensively studied using a range of tools, including TRANSPORT, MAD-X PTC, and G4Beamline, to ensure that the figures of merit this beamline will be capable of delivering will meet the experimental needs. Additionally, the instrumentation which will be installed in the beamline has been selected and will enable particle-by-particle identification over the entire 2 to 13 GeV/c operational range. The effects of the additional material this instrumentation will intro- duce on the beam have also been studied, with a focus on the particle rate and beam-spot size at the NA61/SHINE target. Finally, the beamline鈥檚 possible future implementation into CERN鈥檚 North Area is discussed and a scheme for its installation is proposed. Additionally, a FLUKA study of the feasibility of the beamline from the point of view of radiation safety is presented.</abstract> </front> <article-type>technical-report</article-type> </article> </articles>