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arXiv · 2606.13062

Optimization of muon suppression using sweeper magnets for the Forward Physics Facility at the HL-LHC

Abstract

The Forward Physics Facility (FPF) at the High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) will enable high-statistics measurements of TeV-scale neutrinos, but the intense flux of forward muons poses a major challenge for neutrino detectors in the far-forward region. We investigate the suppression of background muons using sweeper magnets with a simulation framework combining SIBYLL event generation, BDSIM beam transport, Geant4 particle tracking, and realistic magnetic field maps. Starting from a muon flux of $3.8\times10^3~\mathrm{cm^{-2}}$ per $\mathrm{fb^{-1}}$ without magnets, a magnet in the LHC tunnel alone achieves the target level of $2\times10^3~\mathrm{cm^{-2}}$ per $\mathrm{fb^{-1}}$. Additional magnets at the TI18 tunnel and FPF entrance further reduce the flux to $1.5\times10^3~\mathrm{cm^{-2}}$ per $\mathrm{fb^{-1}}$ in the optimized configuration. These results demonstrate that a properly optimized multi-stage sweeper magnet system can significantly reduce the forward muon background, while also highlighting the importance of realistic transport simulations and geometrical constraints in achieving further suppression.

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BibTeXRIS

Akitaka Ariga, Tomoko Ariga, Jeremy Atkinson, Jamie Boyd, Kohei Chinone, Radu Dobre, Elena Firu, Haruhi Fujimori, Stephen Gibson, Daiki Hayakawa, Enrique Kajomovitz, Alex Keyken, Umut Kose, Laurie Nevay, Ken Ohashi, Simon Thor. 2026-06-11. Optimization of muon suppression using sweeper magnets for the Forward Physics Facility at the HL-LHC. https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.13062

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