Speaker
Description
The novel forward neutrino program at the Large Hadron Collider offers a new handle for understanding forward hadron production in pp collisions, inferred from neutrino interactions in a forward detector. Most existing and proposed high energy neutrino experiments have excellent muon charge identification capabilities, enabling the distinction of $\nu_\mu$ and $\bar \nu_\mu$ charged current interactions. In contrast, distinguishing electrons and positrons from $\nu_e$ and $\bar \nu_e$ interactions is typically impossible, as they interact quickly within dense detector materials and do not reach the spectrometer. We propose a compact and cost-effective plastic target, placed right before the spectrometer, to maximize the rate of electrons and positrons reaching the spectrometer before interacting. When installed at the FASER or FASER2 experiments, the setup enables the first separate measurement of $\nu_e$ and $\bar\nu_e$ cross sections at high energy, and constraining forward $\Lambda$ hyperons. This reduces flux uncertainties, thereby improving limits on non-standard neutrino interactions in neutral currents.