--- Minutes of the PS & SPS User Meeting --- # PS-SPS Users Meeting for Week 32 held on 6 August 2026 Coordinator this week : * Martin Jäkel (until Friday) * Paolo Martinengo (Weekend and next Week). ## News from the PS & SPS Physics Coordinator M.R. Jäkel, P. Martinengo :::success Latest public schedule: [1.4.8](https://asm.app.cern.ch/coordination/published-schedule) (Draft STRAW and AIABE now confirmed, will be refected in 1.4.9) * Last regular weekly meeting: **3.Sep.2026** * Restart of weekly meetings: Mid 2028, few weeks before EA restarts * Expect next call for EA beam time: **Nov/Dec 2027 (for 2028 run)** * Expext call for EA & NA beam time: **Oct. 2028 (for 2029 run)** **Oct/Nov - Test Beam Day** : (Date to be announced) * Results and feedback from Run 3 * Plans for Run 4 test beam ::: **New Testbeam Welcome Website (BE-EA) https://testbeams.web.cern.ch** Please use it and give us feedback on: https://codimd.web.cern.ch/bJEzOaAcTS2B6UZY1wG9Sg. **CLEAR** will run during LS3 (electrons up to 220 MeV). If interested, contact Davide Gamba (Davide.Gamba@cern.ch). Further Infos : [CLEAR.CERN](https://clear.cern/?check_logged_in=1), [CLEAR Scientific Board Meeting](https://indico.cern.ch/event/1661754/) :::info **Physics Run 2026 Information :** * n-TOF p+ : -> 31.08.2026 * EA Physics p+ : -> 31.08.2026 (except IRRAD) * NA Physics p+ : -> 03.08.2026 * NA Pb Ions : 07.08.2026 -> 31.08.2026 * EA Physics PB Ion (T8) 19.08.2026 -> 31.08.2026 ::: :::warning **Latest Injector schedule** : 2026, [[v 1.7](https://edms.cern.ch/document/3180469/1.7)] ::: --- **Target intensities:** See via [ASM](https://asm.app.cern.ch/experimental-area/experiments) --- ### News from the Facilities Operations Meeting (FOM/TIOC) **Upcoming SPS MDs next weeks :** https://be-dep-ea.web.cern.ch/content/md-planning-north-area Dedicated SPS MDs - if not anounced differently - are taking place from 8:00 to 18:00  **Changes :** * This Week 32 - Start of Ion Physics NA * Week 33 : Wednesday Ded. MD, on Thursday Parallel MD * Week 34 : HiRadMat test with low energy ions **Interventions :** * PS - Install and validate the prototype solid-state driver amplifier. 24.08 14h (3-4h) * LINAC3 - Daily Stripper Foil measurment. Weekdays 8h30 for 3 minutes (no beam) --- ## PS Machine Report (Rubén García Alía) - Reasonable PS availability of 92% from Thu-to-Thu morning - Main downtime sources were access on Tue midday for RF (~4h) and issue in L4 (~2h) - EAST - Large beam (22 x 19 mm on BPM4) prepared and delivered to IRRAD - Heavy ions to T8 during IRRAD cooldown (3-8 AM) to progress with beam commissioning and calibration prior to upcoming user run - F62.XSEC22 still returns too high values (e.g. 60e10 instead of 30e10) - Asymmetry H - A degauss function on B8L is now present on LHC1 (72b) and HIRADMAT cycle. - It doesn't cancel completely the very negative offset but it helps.   - Preparation and adjustment of SFTION#1b_Pb_26 - Recently running with pumped-up EARLY (i.e. 5 injections into LEIR) providing factor ~2 improvement in intensity - Adjustments mainly related to phase and phase jumps - Autosteering disabled from TOF due to induction of drift - AD: - transmission improvement through TT2 golden trajectory recovery - Ions for AD (ILHC#1b_4_AD) - timing of extraction elements to be checked, as there was no beam reaching AD ## SPS Machine Report (M. Schenk)  - High availability *(N.B.: no downtime accounted for this week since we are in SFTION commissioning)* - Relatively smooth end of proton run with two main issues during the weekend - 200 MHz Cavity 4 fault (Saturday). Operation in degraded mode: machine settings adjusted to run without C4 during weekend (~31 h). Repaired HV PSU on Monday in shadow of RP survey. - QTLD.2509 power converter trip requiring first-line intervention (1 h) - SFTION setting up - Monday: DSO tests, RP survey, various accesses, and beam permits signed - Since then preparing both the high- and low-energy cycles - High-energy cycle for physics start on Friday ready with further fine-tuning this afternoon - Low-energy cycle can be played in parallel this afternoon for setting up by EA colleagues - Hiccup with switch to parallel optics for T2 required transfer line experts: New quad setting defined for QTAD.2306, now OK for both energies. - Exploring two 50 Hz compensation options for ions (directly on quad circuits vs beam-based [challenge: low S/N for ions]) - Open question: Transfer line intensity measurement (BSI) vs SPS Ring BCT would suggest low extraction efficiency. This, however cannot be explained by observed losses and well centered beam on BTVs. ## Safety (Alexandre Acerra Gil) :::danger **Incident with coolant ingestion** - Last week, a chiller was disconnected while the cooling system was still running. - The pressurised coolant sprayed on several people, some of them ingested coolant and got drops in their eyes. - Personnel reacted well and called the Fire Brigade and RP immediately. - The coolant was not activated and nobody got injured. - Please remember to **turn off the chiller** before any intervention. - Even when you are using water, there is a risk that the coolant liquid could be **activated**, therefore a **face shield is now mandatory** for all interventions on chillers used in beam line areas. - The EP Safety Office ordered face shields that will be made available to everybody who still has a test beam this year. - In addition, follow the manuals of the chillers and the instructions in the Safety Data Sheets of the coolants, in particular the **PPE requirements (gloves, long sleeves/lab coats, etc.)**. - Remember to declare the chemicals in the ISIEC and **upload the Safety Data Sheet**! - In case of questions, please contact James Devine or Marcus Jankowski. ::: - Please complete your [ISIEC submission](https://ep-th-safety.web.cern.ch/isiec-safety-clearance/) with all hazards at least one week in advance. A dedicated time slot for safety inspections is reserved for Wednesday afternoons (15:00-17:00). - **Missing ISIECs**: - None for this Friday and next Wednesday - Obligatory to **wear the PPE** as defined in the [safety video](https://indico.cern.ch/event/1645142/contributions/6916288/subcontributions/598017/attachments/3211079/5739980/2026_GeneralSafetyVideo_EA+NA.mp4) that was shared during the beamline user meeting and at the end of the ISIEC. Note that failure to do so is considered a professional fault ([EDMS 3413229](https://edms.cern.ch/document/3413229/LAST_RELEASED)). - **Food and drinks are not allowed** in radiologically classified areas. Use the dedicated coffee room outside the classified area instead (887/1-A92). - For **fluorinated gases** please check the [HSE website](https://hse.cern/f-gas/temporary-experiments) and fill out the declaration form (even if purchased through CERN), follow the [**mandatory training**](https://lms.cern.ch/ekp/servlet/ekp?PX=N&TEACHREVIEW=N&CID=EKP000044802&TX=FORMAT1&LANGUAGE_TAG=*ALL*&DECORATEPAGE=N) and also contact EP Safety. - For special requirements (e.g. **flammable gases**, lasers, bringing your own lifting table, etc.) contact us as soon as possible. ## TT2A Outgoing Main: n_TOF (Giuseppe Tagliente) * EAR1: : End of MArEx measurement, new setup with LaBr detectors to study the reaction 10B(n,a) *  * EAR2: Hunting the X17 with the reaction He(n,e+e-), data taking is ongoing * NEAR: 141Ce activation  ## East Area Beam Status (D. Banerjee) On call phone number: :phone: [67500](tel:+41227667500) T09: Good operation. Magnet DHZ045 back to pulsed mode after CORAL. T09 is operating with the new controls, Synoptics, for this week. Many thanks to CMS Bril for testing this. T10: Good operation. T11: Good operation. ## East Area Users Tour de Table ### T8 Main: IRRAD & CHARM (F. Ravotti, S. Fiore)  Beam delivery in week 31: intensity delivered to T8 ~2.36E+16 p/w (below the reference of 2.75E+16 p/w) and TID generated by the CHARM target ~429 Gy/w (below the reference of 500 Gy/w). Beam centering on both axes: ~83% of the spills were within +/- 2mm from the centre on both X and Y axes (83.2% and 97.0% respectively). During the proton cooldown period on Wed. night (3am-8am) we carried out a ion MD on T8 for HEARTS. In IRRAD we removed completed samples for several experiments (DRD3, CMS-PPS, SSD, INFN Torino nuclear target, HL-LHC HFM) and added several new batches for DRD3 and LHCb (crystal samples R&D) experiments. The CMS-ETROC experiment was removed as well. We also exchanged sample batches for all previously installed long experiments (EP-DT, LHCb, etc.). In CHARM we installed a new setup by TE-MPE, one by ATLAS-CAEN, and exchanged samples for R2E test by BE-CEM and SY-STI. We continue until next Wednesday 12th. As anticipated last week, on Tuesday evening (after testing the proper config. on Monday) we asked the CCC to run for ~ 1hour with the beam with enlarged spot at IRRAD Zone 3 (used already at the beginning of the year). The test went smoothly. Many thanks! Many thanks even more to the OP operators, that came quickly to T8 yesterday to redo the patrol, after we lost it, due to the evacuation alarm triggered in the East area. ### T9 Outgoing Main: CORAL (Laura Bandiera, Gianfranco Paternò) We successfully completed the beam test of crystal radiators using 6 GeV electrons. The beam remained stable throughout the experiment. The only minor issue occurred during Monday’s storm, when the magnet tripped and shut down; however, it was quickly restored to normal operation. We tested a tungsten crystal radiator and collected sufficient statistics to demonstrate the expected enhancement of gamma-ray emission in the hundreds-of-MeV energy range under axial channeling conditions, compared with the amorphous case (random orientation). These results may contribute to the development of future high-intensity gamma-ray sources in the hundreds-of-MeV energy range.  We would like to thank all the PS and SPS staff, and in particular Dipanwita and her team, for their valuable support and efforts throughout the beam test. ### T9 Main: CMS BRIL (Olena Karacheban) Moved in, many thanks to transport and craning teams! FBCM cold box mounted, chiller pipes connected and secured, CROC modules mounted. <img src="https://codimd.web.cern.ch/uploads/upload_60ea8e2830abc291a882932e5d41125f.jpg" width="49%"> <img src="https://codimd.web.cern.ch/uploads/upload_5d202e05d106f6c004e291205c04f3ee.jpg" width="49%"> Safety check and beam control trainings done. Next: firmware and readout tests, then starting tests with beam today. ### T9 Incoming Main: BL4S (Team PionIST, Team attoPION) Winners of BL4S 2026 edition will present their project with their own presentation. This year, pi0 decay experiments has been chosen as a winner and they will try to reconstruct pi0 by energies of two photons with ECAL. They want to use different materials for having different Z interaction. - Beam Parameters: +- 1 to +- 5 GeV pion and proton beam. - Targets: Graphite, Copper, Iron, Tungsten with varying thicknesses. - Experimental layout is as follows:  - Team PionIST from Turkiye: Baki Berkay, Altunkaynak, Ceren Akgün, Fuat Berkin Altunkaynak, Mahir Kocakaya, Muhammed Yılmaz, Salih Efe Çabuk, Yusuf Tarikci - Team attoPION from India: Ayush Bhardwaj, Aniket Jaiswal, Aritra Sadukhan, Abhay Nenavath Rathod, Aarush Mandla For reaching their presentations: https://cernbox.cern.ch/s/cCyHTtGZRo67s6w ### T10 Outgoing Main: DRD6 MPGD-HCAL (L. Longo)  tests performed: - combined runs with both electromagnetic (CRILIN) and hadronic (MPGD-HCAL) calorimeter with negative pions beam - MPGD-HCAL only runs with both positive and negative beams a big thanks for all the support received. From our side there were no problem in the beam operation. ### T10 Main: ALICE ITS3 (Livia Terlizzi)  - Usual ITS3 telescope used in all the previous test beam in T10 (this is our last test beam before LS3) - Plan to measure several chips, both not irradiated and irradiated (NIEL/TID) - Successfully taking data since yesterday evening ### T10 Incoming Main: LHCB (Loris Martinazzoli) Installing LHCb RICH setup with cyrostat to test SiPM at cryogenic temperature (N2 cooling). Overall, same setup as in the first run of this year at PS (see pic below). We are in contact with EP Safety to assess the hazards and take the necessary measures.  ### T11 Main: P371 (Vincent Verhoeven) Good operation. We are in the beam time schedule until 29, but want to stay until 31. Can we please have as many spills as possible? ## TT66 Outgoing Main: BTVmat (P. Alexaki) HRMT-74 (BTVmat) experiment was succesfully completed last week. Thank you all for the support! Next: Pb test & 26 GeV/c proton test on Monday 17.08 ## North Area Beam Status (D. Banerjee) On call phone number: :phone: [67500](tel:+41227667500) H2/H4: Ion beam comissioning ongoing. H8: Ion beam commissioning going well. Beams at 150 AGeV/c tuned (primary, A/Z=2.0, 2.2, 2.4). H6/M2: End of operation. P42/K12: End of operation and start of NA62 dismantling on Monday. ## North Area Users Tour de Table ### H2 Outgoing Main: NA61/SHINE (Eric Zimmerman, Bartosz Maksiak) - Data taking with protons finished on Monday morning - Stable beam except of last 24 hours due to RF cavity fault and for the last day running in a degraded mode. - In total, we registered over 5e10 hadrons since July 8. We are satisfied in terms of beam stability and intensity. Big thanks to everyone who helped with the setup, its improvements and solving unexpected problems! - Since Monday we have been setting up for the detector tests both with and without of beam. Magnet cryo experts started working on the magnets immediately after we stopped the run. ### H4 Outgoing Main: DRD1 (Yorgos Tsipolitis & Karl Flöthner) - Thanks to everyone to make also the last test beam a success! - We had very good beam condiditions and excellent help by Nikos for the beam files (also thanks to Giovanni and Florian for the unusual Pion configuration requested by us during one of our last test beams - it was reused/adapted by Nikos). - It was a real pleasure, this time, last time, any time, and we are looking forward to the next time! - Deinsallation smooth as usual. - Only gas deinstallation was finished one day after (it was quite a lot...). We are reaching the limit of the new gas cabinet (see picture).  - All groups could take data and left satisfied and without problems. - There a information and even priliminary results of each setup on indico (contact me, karl.jonathan-floethner@cern.ch, in case you can't access): https://indico.cern.ch/event/1647848/ - Below the picture from the end of the beam BBQ of GIF++&DRD1  ### H4 Outgoing Parallel: STRAW TRACKER RD (Please insert your name) ### H4 Outgoing Parallel: EIC EPIC MPGD (Please insert your name) ### H4 Outgoing Parallel: GIF++ (Paolo Martinengo) Last test beam before LS3 quite successful, good beam & availability Operation with source already restarted ### H4 Incoming Main: CRSPACE (N. Mori and M. Duranti - INFN) - ISIEC compiled and safety check 'booked' for tomorrow at 16:00 - we're installing the DAQ in the control room - beam pipe seems alread installed - can we start to install in Experimental Area? The area is closed now - we would need DESY and XCSA table as soon as the EA is accessible (already agreed with TSO) ### H4 Incoming Main: HL ZDC (Brian Cole) We will be using Pb ion beams to produce neutrons for tests of the joint ATLAS-CMS HL-ZDC complementary to the hadron measurements carried out in July.  - We will tag incoming ions with threshold cherenkov counter (CO2 at 1 bar) and trigger counters - Fragment the Pb ions on a 2 mm target, sweep charged fragmnets with GOLIATH (maximum field) - Place HL-ZDC 11 m downstream of GOLIATH center - Locate trigger counter to detect 150 GeV protons emitted by fragmented ions - Will also install current ATLAS ZDC at end of area to provide comparison measurement, calibrate in LHC - Cannot be installed until Friday, August 14 after removal from LHC tunnel on Aug 13. - Presumably requires additional safety inspection  - Based on recently completed FLUKA simulations, some background from Pb ions interacting in air, possible to install beam pipe downstream of Pb "target"? - Neutrons, Pb ions, fragments will remain within aperture until HL-ZDC, window thickness? Preparations - Detector has remained in 887 after July tests, new table constructed - Trigger counters ready, in preparation - Transport requests for materials, craning created - ISIEC submitted - XSCA, DESY, LAPP, and TRAKGRAF(sp?) tables, Cherenkov signal cables, arranged. ### H6 Outgoing Main: DRD4 (Sune Jakobsen) The test beam was successful without any major problems. One setup was removed and repaired during the period without beam on Wednesday. Many thanks to RP for prompt availability. The 2 beam setups (low and high intensity depending on access situation in PP156) worked smoothly. The communication between the MANY users of the beam line was smoot and friendly. Many thanks to all groups. The details for each of the 3 DRD4 setup are uploaded to the agenda. ### H6 Outgoing Main: DRD4 (Please insert your name) ### H6 Outgoing Parallel: ALICE ITS3 (Elena Dall'Occo) Tested all the expected samples, non irradiated and irradiated up to 1e16 MeV n_eq cm^(-2) and collected large data set for each sample. Thanks to DRD4 groups for the nice collaboration and Laurie for the setting up of the beam! ### H8 Outgoing Main: DRD6 IDEA DRC (Kyeongpil Lee, Hwidong Yoo, Sehwook Lee) The experiment was successful, with collecting a large amount of data for: * Response and resolution vs. energy for EM particles (e+) * Response and resolution vs. energy for hadronic particles (pion, proton, and jet-like events) * Geometrical detector uniformity of the response * Lateral shower profile * Horizontal scan for 3D shower reconstruction and shower depth measurement * ... (>20% more amount of data than the experiment last year in terms of data size) Example of the analyzed data - *very preliminary* results for 60 GeV particle:  -> Checking the other energy points is ongoing: looks promising & would obtain better results than last year It was possible thanks to a lot of help and support from CERN, including TRAGKRAFT table, DWCs, arrangement of their installation & deinstallation, stable beams during the week, etc - **Many thanks to Laurie and CERN team!** ### H8 Incoming Main: DAMPE (RE-29) (Jianhua Guo)  Our main detector, including BGO Calorimeter (about 1000Kg) could not arrived at CERN as expected, We plan to test some detector. Our run is from 7th Aug to 12nd Aug. The detector modules include Scintillation Fiber detector, Charge detector for High Z (Very large dynamic range readout for PSD detector,Cherenkov detector). We will take data after safety clearance. We will use fragments with A/Z = 2.2 first and A/Z = 2 later. The particle rate should be about 500Hz. I want to know whether we could enter the beam area PPE138 this afternoon (6th Aug) for setup. ### H8 Incoming Main: RE7 GAMMA MEV (Roberta Pillera, Nicola Mazziotta) Our run is from 12/08 to 17/08. We will test the ZIRE Tray with ion fragments, following the previous successful run at the T10 line in july. The setup is similar. We would like to have clear space around our equipment to have enough space to safely operate on our detectors. We arranged to use two desy tables and one xsca table for the detectors, both remotely controlled. We will use a water chiller to cool the detector to about 15°C.  We will use N2 gas to keep the inside of the tray dry, request set, as well as the ISIEC at 5pm form nr 254. We have our equipment currently stored in the 887/R-Q26 and have requested the crane handling for the 12/08. We will need 2 cages at the storage area the day prior to our mounting (11/08) to prepare the equipment for the transport. The handling request ids TR-0804-0943-01, EDH 11963704. We will start taking data as soon as we have the safety clearance and we will use mainly fragments with A/Z=2 and later on with A/Z=2.2. The particle rate should be about 1kHz. ### M2 Outgoing Main: AMBER (Martin Hoffmann) - Concluded successful physics data taking on Monday Morning - CEDAR2 not included for parallel test. Not problematic for this year but required for DY after LS3 - HV Scan with Alphas at 4bar H2 after Beam Stop - Flushing TPC with Nitrogen, below safety limit - Preparations for Shutdown, SM1/SM2 Field Map Measurement - Summary: - First year of physics data taking with this free-streaming DAQ - Quite a lot of improvements concerning DAQ and monitoring since last year - Stable data taking. Reached statistics goals, also due to great beam availability in July - Heat wave during June was a challenge, cooling had to be prepared or improved - Coincidence of TPC seen during data taking - Collected large data sample (~1 PB), will proceed with analysis now during LS3 - Thanks a lot for the overall help, e.g. beam availability, beam tuning in the beginning, and the fast solution for Shift Shuttle Service!  Time coincidence of TPC:  ### K12-P42 Outgoing Main: NA62 (Please insert your name) ### H6 Outgoing Parasitic: ATLAS MALTA (Please insert your name) ### H6 Outgoing Parasitic: BIPXL Telescope (J. Braach) - Setup on table in closely-spaced configuration - New software commissioned - Measurements for telescope calibration and characterization - Measurements with Straw tracker DUT - Telescope fully dimantled and zone emptied on 03.08.2026 - One mobile rack remains and will be picked up before the end of W32 - No issues ### H8 Outgoing Parasitic: STRAW TRACKER RD (Please insert your name) ### M2 Outgoing Parasitic: MUONE (Riccardo Pilato) We tested an improved DAQ system and the online track reconstruction of the MUonE BMS system, composed of two tracking stations equipped with 2S modules, located before and after the M2 bending magnet. Despite initial difficulties in setting up the DAQ system, a good amount of data has been collected last week to exercise the online reconstruction of beam deflections and monitor their stability over several hours. Preliminary analysis shows satisfactory tracking performance.  Data will be used to assess potential limitations of the current system due to the relative alignment of the two tracking stations and the knowledge of the bending magnetic field, and investigate upgrades for future runs after LS3. We would like to thank AMBER and the CERN staff for coordination and support in setting up this run. --- ## AoB --- _Minutes by the respective speakers, edited by the Physics Coordination_