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FASER, or the Forward Search Experiment, is a new experiment at CERN designed to complement the LHC’s ongoing physics program, extending its discovery potential to light and weakly interacting particles that may be produced copiously at the LHC in the far-forward region. New particles targeted by FASER, such as long-lived dark photons or axion-like particles, are characterised by a signature with two oppositely charged tracks or two photons in the multi-TeV range that emanate from a common vertex inside the detector. The full detector was successfully installed in March 2021 in an LHC side tunnel 480 m downstream from the interaction point in the ATLAS detector. FASER is planned to be operational for LHC Run 3. The experiment is composed of a silicon-strip tracking-based spectrometer using three dipole magnets with a 20 cm aperture, supplemented by four scintillator stations and an electromagnetic calorimeter. The FASER electromagnetic calorimeter is constructed from four spare LHCb calorimeter modules. The modules are of the Shashlik type with interleaved scintillator and lead plates that result in 25 radiation lengths and 1% energy resolution for TeV electromagnetic showers. In 2021, a test beam campaign was carried out using one of the CERN SPS beam lines to set up the calibration of the FASER calorimeter system in preparation for physics data taking. The relative calorimeter response to electrons with energies between 10 and 300 GeV, as well as high energy muons and pions, has been measured under various high voltage settings and beam positions. The measured calorimeter resolution, energy calibration, and particle identification capabilities are presented. 

The Forward Search Experiment (FASER) at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has recently directly detected the first collider neutrinos. Neutrinos play an important role in all FASER analyses, either as signal or background, and it is therefore essential to understand the neutrino event rates. In this study, we update previous simulations and present prescriptions for theoretical predictions of neutrino fluxes and cross sections, together with their associated uncertainties. With these results, we discuss the potential for possible measurements that could be carried out in the coming years with the FASER neutrino data to be collected in LHC Run 3 and Run 4. 

The Forward Search Experiment (FASER) at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has recently directly detected the first collider neutrinos. Neutrinos play an important role in all FASER analyses, either as signal or background, and it is therefore essential to understand the neutrino event rates. In this study, we update previous simulations and present prescriptions for theoretical predictions of neutrino fluxes and cross sections, together with their associated uncertainties. With these results, we discuss the potential for possible measurements that could be carried out in the coming years with the FASER neutrino data to be collected in LHC Run 3 and Run 4. Published by the American Physical Society2024 

The first results of the study of high-energy electron neutrino (𝜈𝑒) and muon neutrino (𝜈𝜇) charged-current interactions in the FASER⁢𝜈 emulsion-tungsten detector of the FASER experiment at the LHC are presented. A 128.8 kg subset of the FASER⁢𝜈 volume was analyzed after exposure to 9.5  fb−1 of √𝑠=13.6  TeV 𝑝⁢𝑝 data. Four (eight) 𝜈𝑒 (𝜈𝜇) interaction candidate events are observed with a statistical significance of 5.2⁢𝜎 (5.7⁢𝜎). This is the first direct observation of 𝜈𝑒 interactions at a particle collider and includes the highest-energy 𝜈𝑒 and 𝜈𝜇 ever detected from an artificial source. The interaction cross section per nucleon 𝜎/𝐸𝜈 is measured over an energy range of 560–1740 GeV (520–1760 GeV) for 𝜈𝑒 (𝜈𝜇) to be (1.2+0.8 −0.7)×10−38  cm2 GeV−1 [(0.5±0.2)×10−38  cm2 GeV−1], consistent with standard model predictions. These are the first measurements of neutrino interaction cross sections in those energy ranges. 

The first results of the study of high-energy electron neutrino ( ${\nu }_e$) and muon neutrino ( ${\nu }_{\mu }$) charged-current interactions in the $\mathrm{FASER}\nu$emulsion-tungsten detector of the FASER experiment at the LHC are presented. A 128.8 kg subset of the $\mathrm{FASER}\nu$volume was analyzed after exposure to $9.5{\mathrm{fb}}^{-1}$of $\sqrt{s}=13.6\mathrm{TeV}$ $pp$data. Four (eight) ${\nu }_e$( ${\nu }_{\mu }$) interaction candidate events are observed with a statistical significance of $5.2\sigma$( $5.7\sigma$). This is the first direct observation of ${\nu }_e$interactions at a particle collider and includes the highest-energy ${\nu }_e$and ${\nu }_{\mu }$ever detected from an artificial source. The interaction cross section per nucleon $\sigma /E_{\nu }$is measured over an energy range of 560–1740 GeV (520–1760 GeV) for ${\nu }_e$( ${\nu }_{\mu }$) to be $\left({1.2}_{-0.7}^{+0.8}\right)\times {10}^{-38}{\mathrm{cm}}^2{\mathrm{GeV}}^{-1}$[ $(0.5\pm 0.2)\times {10}^{-38}{\mathrm{cm}}^2{\mathrm{GeV}}^{-1}$], consistent with standard model predictions. These are the first measurements of neutrino interaction cross sections in those energy ranges. Published by the American Physical Society2024 

Abstract FASER, the ForwArd Search ExpeRiment, is an experiment dedicated to searching for light, extremely weakly-interacting particles at CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Such particles may be produced in the very forward direction of the LHC's high-energy collisions and then decay to visible particles inside the FASER detector, which is placed 480 m downstream of the ATLAS interaction point, aligned with the beam collisions axis. FASER also includes a sub-detector, FASERν, designed to detect neutrinos produced in the LHC collisions and to study their properties. In this paper, each component of the FASER detector is described in detail, as well as the installation of the experiment system and its commissioning using cosmic-rays collected in September 2021 and during the LHC pilot beam test carried out in October 2021. FASER has successfully started taking LHC collision data in 2022, and will run throughout LHC Run 3.