Fixed-target experiment

The moving beam (also known as a projectile) consists of charged particles such as electrons or protons and is accelerated to relativistic speed.

have already been approached by older fixed target experiments such at the E288 led by Leon Lederman at Fermilab.

[3][11] Another advantage for fixed-target experiments is that they are easier and cheaper to build compared to the collider accelerators.

Later half of the 20th century saw the rise of particle and nuclear physics facilities such as CERN's Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) and Fermilab's Tevatron where number of fixed-target experiments led to new discoveries.

[13][14] The fixed-target experiments are mainly implemented for the intensive studies of the rare processes, dynamics at high Bjorken x, diffractive physics, spin-correlations, and numerous nuclear phenomena.

[13][14] The experiments at Fermilab's Tevatron facility covered wide range of physics domains such as testing the theoretical predictions of quantum chromodynamics theory, studies of structure of proton, neutron and mesons, and studies of heavy quarks such as charm and bottom.

[12][15] NA61/SHINE at the SPS is studying the phase transitions in strongly interacting matter and physics related to onset of confinement.

[17] AFTER@LHC aims at the studies of gluon and quark distribution inside protons and neutrons using fixed-target facilities.

[14] Thus the number of options available to explore extreme and rare physics at the fixed-target experiments are numerous.