Experiment support

CNAF hosts the Italian Tier-1 site, one of the eleven Tier-1 centers of the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid, which builds and maintains data storage and analysis infrastructure for the international high energy physics community using the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in Geneva.

One of the main functions of the Tier-1 centers is to get in real time a share of the raw data taken by the experiments, and provide long-term storage for it. Of course, at CNAF data are not only stored, but also processed to generate calibrated and filtered data, which then can be transferred to Tier-2 sites and researchers worldwide. Acting as a Tier-1 center, CNAF provides both resources and expertise to the four LHC experiments

whose particle detectors are located in huge caverns underground on the LHC ring, and record and analyse the myriad of particles produced by collisions in the accelerator. These experiments, run by collaborations of scientists from institutes all over the world, investigate a wide range of high energy physics, from the search for the Higgs boson and standard model studies to extra-dimensions and particles that could make up dark matter.

LHC experiments represent the main users of CNAF facilities: they heavily use Grid technologies, on top of which they have built experiment specific services to support data management, job management and monitoring in a better way. However, CNAF also supports the computing communities of an increasing number of experiments, mostly dedicated to astro-particle and neutrino-physics. In particular, CNAF provides (or has provided) computing facilities and expertise to the following experiments:

AMS-02

Position: Area: cosmic rays and gamma rays

The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer is a particle detector operating in space, as an external module on board the International Space Station. AMS performs precision measurements of cosmic rays composition and flux, in order to study the universe and understand its origin by searching for antimatter and dark matter.

ARGO-YBJ

Position: Area: cosmic rays

The ARGO-YBJ experiment studies cosmic rays, mainly cosmic gamma-radiation, by detecting small size air showers initiated by primaries of energies greater than 100 GeV. In order to approach the maximum size development of low energy showers, the detector is installed at very high altitude, at the Yangbajing High Altitude Cosmic Ray Laboratory, 4300 m above sea level, in Tibet.

AUGER

Position: Area: cosmic rays

The Pierre Auger Cosmic Ray Observatory is located in western Argentina’s Mendoza Province. Its detector area is huge, and allows to record a large number of extremely high-energy cosmic rays. By detecting and studying these rare particles, the Auger Observatory tackles the enigmas of their origin and existence.

BaBar

Position: Area: flavour physics

The BaBar detector operated successfully at the PEP-II collider at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory from 1999 to 2008. The experiment studied the nature of antimatter, and the properties and interactions of quarks and leptons.

BELLE II

Position: Area: flavour physics

The Belle II detector will collect data at the very high luminosity SuperKEKB asymmetric electron-positron collider currently under construction in the KEK laboratory in Tsukuba, Japan. The experiment will investigate physics beyond the standard model.

BOREXINO

Position: Area: neutrino physics

Borexino is a detector for low energy solar neutrinos, located at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso of INFN. The experiment is focused on Solar Neutrino Physics, but also investigates relevant topics in low background neutrino detection and underground physics.

CDF

Position: Area: high energy with particle accelerators

The Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF) records and studies particles produced by collisions of protons and antiprotons in the Tevatron accelerator, to explore high energy physics, and study the particles that make up the universe and their interactions.

COMPASS

Position: Area: high energy with particle accelerator

COMPASS (COmmon Muon-Proton Apparatus for Strucure and Spectroscopy) is a high-energy physics experiment installed at the SPS accelerator at CERN, and designed for the study of the nature of nucleons and hadronic spectroscopy with high energy muons and hadrons beams.

CTA

Position: Area: cosmic rays

CTA (Cherenkov Telescope Array) is a project fot the next generation ground-based Cherenkov observatory: an array of many tens of Cherenkov telescopes aimed at studying the very high-energy "non-thermal" gamma-ray Universe.

CUORE

Position: Area: search for rare processes

The Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events (CUORE) is an upcoming experiment located at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso of INFN. Its primary purpose is to search for the rare neutrinoless double beta decay of 130Te. Being a low-background observatory for rare events, it has also the potential to detect processes involving exotic particles such as dark matter or axions.

CUPID

Position: Area: search for rare processes

The project CUPID (CUORE Upgrade with Particle Identification) is an experiment which will be located at the INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso. The scientific goal is to explore the inverted hierarchy of neutrino masses, searching for the violation of the lepton number and the Majorana neutrino.

DAMPE

Position: Area: cosmic rays

The DAMPE (DArk Matter Particle Explorer) experiment is in orbit on board a Chinese satellite since December 2015; it measures the flux of electrons and positrons in high-energy cosmic rays.

DARKSIDE

Position: Area: search for rare processes

Located deep underground at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso of INFN, DarkSide is an ultra-low background detector searching for Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), which are a candidate for dark matter.

EEE

Position: Area: cosmic rays

The aim of the EEE (Extreme Energy Events) project si the study of cosmic rays of extremely high energy using a cluster of muon telescopes spread on a wide area.

ENUBET

Position: Area: neutrino physics

The ENUBET (Enhanced NeUtrino BEams from kaon Tagging) project, funded by the European Union under the European Research Council Consolidator Grant scheme, will enable for the first time the measurement of the positrons produced in the decay tunnel of conventional neutrino beams.

FAMU

Position: Area: nuclear physics

The goal of the FAMU (Fisica con Atomi MUonici) experiment is the measurement of the proton Zemach radius, using the RIKEN-RAL muon facility in Great Britain.

FERMI-GLAST

Position: Area: cosmic rays and gamma rays

The satellite Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, formerly called GLAST, is an international space observatory which detects gamma rays, enabling scientists to answer questions across a broad range of topics, including super-massive black-hole systems, pulsars, the origin of cosmic rays, and searches for signals of new physics.

GAMMA-400

Position: Area: cosmic rays and gamma rays

Gamma-400 (Gamma Astronomical Multifunctional Modular Apparatus) is a Russian-Italian space mission, designed to investigate the nature of dark matter, the origin and emission of cosmic rays and the phenomenon of gamma ray bursts.

GERDA

Position: Area: search for rare processes

The GERmanium Detector Array (GERDA) is a facility with germanium detectors, located at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso of INFN and designed to search for the rare neutrinoless double beta decay of 76Ge.

ICARUS

Position: Area: neutrino physics

The ICARUS (Imaging Cosmic And Rare Underground Signals) experiment is located at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso of INFN, and it is aimed at studying neutrinos of various origins: neutrinos of astronomic or solar sources, and CERN Neutrinos to Gran Sasso (CNGS), produced 730 km away in the collisions taking place at CERN.

JUNO

Position: Area: neutrino physics

The Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) is a giant neutrino detector located in China, 700-meter deep underground, and designed to determine neutrino mass hierarchy and precisely measure oscillation parameters.

KLOE

Position: Area: rare particle decays, kaon physics

KLOE (K LOng Experiment) studies the decay products of particles produced at the electron-positron collider DAFNE at the Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati of INFN, in order to understand CP violation via kaon physics.

KM3NeT

Position: Area: cosmic rays

KM3NeT is the consortium among INFN, several Italian Universities and several European Research Institutions aiming at identifying the astrophysical sources of cosmic rays and antimatter. It uses the cosmic neutrino telescope Km3net, located south of Sicily.

LHAASO

Position: Area: cosmic rays

The Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) is a high altitude detector located at Yangbajing (Tibet) and surveying all-sky in in gamma rays and cosmic rays, in order to investigate the origin of cosmic radiation.

LHCf

Position: Area: high energy with particle accelerators

LHCf is an experiment installed at the LHC accelerator at CERN. It investigates the forward production of neutral particles in proton-proton collisions at extremely low angles, in order to improve the modeling of cosmic rays interactions in the Earth atmosphere.

MAGIC

Position: Area: cosmic rays and gamma rays

The MAGIC telescopes are located near the mountain top of the Roque de los Muchachos on the Canary island of La Palma. With their large mirror surfaces, they allow scientists to study cosmic gamma-rays at an energy threshold lower than any existing or planned terrestrial gamma-ray telescope.

NA62

Position: Area: rare particle decays, kaon physics

NA62 uses protons from the Super Proton Synchrotron at CERN to measure very rare kaon decays and investigate the limitations and validity of the Standard Model of particle physics.

OPERA

Position: Area: neutrino physics

Located at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso of INFN, the OPERA experiment has been designed to test the phenomenon of neutrino oscillations during the 3 millisecond travel of muon-neutrinos from CERN in Geneva to Gran Sasso, in central Italy.

PADME

Position: Area: search for rare processes with particle accelerators

The PADME experiment at Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati of INFN aims to search for the "Dark Photon" using positron on target collision at the DAFNE Beam Test Facility.

PAMELA

Position: Area: cosmic rays and gamma rays

Installed on a satellite in orbit around the Earth, the Pamela (a Payload for Antimatter Matter Exploration and Light-nuclei Astrophysics) detector is hunting for anti-protons and positrons in the cosmic radiation, in order to understand the nature of dark matter, the baryon asymmetry in our universe, the origin and propagation of cosmic rays.

PANDA

Position: Area: high energy with particle accelerators

The PANDA Experiment will be one of the key experiments at the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) under construction at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt, Germany. The experiment intends to do basic research on various topics around the weak and strong forces, exotic states of matter and the structure of hadrons.

SuperB

Position: Area: high energy physics with particle accelerators

The SuperB project, terminated at the end of 2012, aimed at constructing an asymmetric electron-positron collider, a heavy-flavour factory optimized for discovering new physics effects.

VIRGO

Position: Area: search for gravitational waves

The Virgo experiment is based on a kilometer-scale gravitational wave detector, listening day and night to all gravitational signals which may arrive at any time and coming from any part of the universe. It is part of a wide network of detectors, so far with the two LIGO detectors at Hanford and Livingston.

XENON

Position: Area: search for rare processes

Located at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso of INFN, the XENON detector studies rare interactions via nuclear recoils in a liquid xenon target, in order to search for dark matter in the form of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs).